Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles has broken his silence about the NFL trade rumors that have surrounded star wide receiver DJ Moore this offseason, but he did little to put those rumors to bed ahead of the new 2026 league year.
Poles told reporters that the Bears think “highly” of Moore and “want him” in Chicago for the 2026 season when addressing the trade rumors at the 2026 NFL Combine on February 24, but he stopped short of shutting down the possibility of trading him.
“I have nothing but great things to say about him,” Poles said Tuesday. “But this is the time where we have to look at all the different scenarios and see what can allow us to put the best team we can put out there.”
Poles also would not commit to Moore being on the Bears’ 2026 roster when asked point-blank in a subsequent interview with ESPN Chicago host Marc Silverman.
“It’s hard to tell right now,” Poles told Silverman. “We’re trying to put all these pieces together. Obviously, we have some cap constraints. We’re over right now; we’ve got to get under. There’s some things we can do, there’s combinations of things we can do.
“I will say this is when we get into some of those really difficult decisions where you’ve got to take the emotions out of it and put your business hat on. And it stinks when you win and guys step up, like DJ, and create these really unbelievable moments that you’ll never forget and then, the next thing you know, asking yourself if they’re going to be on the team or not is really tough.”
DJ Moore’s Role & Cost Creates Questions About Future
Moore remains the most experienced pass-catcher on the Bears’ roster heading into the 2026 season, but his diminished role in Ben Johnson’s offense and high salary-cap hit raise valid questions about whether he will remain in Chicago for the upcoming year.
Moore signed a four-year, $110 million contract extension with the Bears in July 2024 that seemed to lock him into place as their No. 1 wide receiver for the long-term future, but his production did not live up to that title in 2025 in their spread-the-ball offense.
While Moore recorded seven total touchdowns, he also finished with career lows in receptions (50) and receiving yards (682) and had fewer than 20 receiving yards in six of his 17 regular-season games. Some of what held him back from WR1 numbers is that Chicago targeted five receivers at least 60 times and none more than 90, but the context does not change the fact that Moore’s production did not align with his cap charge.
Now, according to Over the Cap, Moore is the Bears’ most expensive player on the books for the 2026 season with a $28.5 million cap hit. The Bears would lose another $7 million in cap space if they cut him, but trading him would clear either $16.5 million or $24.5 million — depending on whether they traded him before or after June 1.
Even if the Bears are confident that Moore can still produce, they might decide it is the right time to move on from the veteran with a competent pass-catching trio — Colston Loveland, Rome Odunze and Luther Burden III — in place to take the reins from him.
Bears Can Clear Cap Space Without Trading DJ Moore
The Bears would clear a significant amount of cap space if they found a trade partner for Moore and dumped his expensive salary before the 2026 season, but dealing away Moore is not the only move that they can make with him to free up more cap space.
The Bears could clear more than $15 million in cap space if they restructured Moore’s contract before the 2026 season. The problem with that method is that pushing money into future seasons all but guarantees Moore will remain on the roster through 2027. Given that he will turn 30 before that season, a restructure is a tougher pill to swallow.
That said, the Bears were two wins away from the Super Bowl last season and may feel that keeping Moore on the roster is the best way to maximize their window to contend, even if it means continuing to balance the target shares between their pass-catchers.
Bears GM Ryan Poles Breaks Silence on Potential DJ Moore Trade