There was reason to wonder if the Chicago Bears made a mistake parting ways with DJ Moore after one down year. The star receiver is an undeniable force and veteran presence for what is a young group of playmakers. However, any concern around this was somewhat eased by a recent ranking that looked at teams opting to pay their playmakers top dollar. BetMGM recently ranked the league's highest-paid running back, receiver, and tight end trios. Coming in the top five were the Atlanta Falcons, Minnesota Vikings, Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens, and New Orleans Saints.
Of these five teams, only the Ravens are expected to be legitimate playoff contenders. The rest of the NFC teams are either expected to be competing for draft positioning by midseason or at very best going to be fringe wildcard contenders. There are a myriad of factors as to why each of these teams, is facing low expectations, but it is noteworthy that a common theme is opting to pay players before they have the coaching and roster to support the timeline of contention.
Chicago reset its timeline by opting to trade away Moore and embrace youth at the position. Rome Odunze, Luther Burden, and Colston Loveland are all on rookie deals and have years of team control remaining. When the time for extensions comes, there is a track record of strong drafting and being able to prioritize which pieces to pay without endangering the ability to contend.
Bears Decision to Part Ways with DJ Moore and Reset the Clock Continues to Age Well
The Bears have put themselves in a position where they are able to evaluate things over the next two years and decide where their money should be allocated. It is an incredibly savvy approach that gives you a chance to make a Super Bowl push now while also having the future cap space to be able to keep the most important pieces while continually resetting the roster around Caleb Williams and head coach Ben Johnson.
Paying position players top dollar without having these two positions figured out isn't going to net you anything of note. Look at Atlanta as a prime example of this, with arguably the league's best running back in Bijan Robinson and elite pass catchers, yet the franchise hasn't made the playoffs since 2017, and that isn't expected to change in the upcoming season.
Even the Dallas Cowboys, who opted to pay Dak Prescott and build their team around talented playmakers is unable to contend based on the inability to build out the rest of the roster. It shows an impatient approach that didn't time its decisions well and is now completely stuck, unable to make the needed improvements to make a Super Bowl push.
Chicago has looked around the league and obviously learned from its mistakes. It speaks to a front office that is perfectly dialed in and giving Chicago its best chance of an extremely long window of contention.
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