Why fix what isn't broken? The Chicago Bears are quickly realizing that trading veteran wideout DJ Moore may not be the way forward after he had his finest outing of the 2025 season on Saturday night during a critical NFC North showdown with the Green Bay Packers.
The Bears outlasted the Packers 22-16 in overtime, and Moore's five catches, 97 receiving yards, and 46-yard walk-off game-winner were an indelible part of the unanswered 16 points in the last five minutes of the fourth quarter and the overtime period. Moore's two touchdown catches and 69 yards on four receptions last week in a 31-3 win over the Cleveland Browns set the stage for it.
Moore was a non-factor for five weeks this season, and it seemed like he had lost whatever rapport he had built up with quarterback Caleb Williams. Once Rome Odunze and Luther Burden III went down, and Moore stepped up, the 28-year-old became indispensable.
DJ Moore Is Playing His Way Back Into Bears' 2026 Plans
With Chicago rolling into the postseason with momentum to take a leap forward, the thought of the guy with the everlasting image from collapsing after taking the ball half the field to the cup for the win, the same guy who wore a cheese grater hat on his head to hammer home the importance of winning the rivalry game, just the second over Green Bay since 2019, is inappropriate to think about.
At least let the beautiful two-week character arc, going from head coach Ben Johnson's biggest disappointment in the team's 28-21 loss at Lambeau Field on Dec. 5 to the Bears' unquestioned Week 16 hero, simmer a little bit. We all know things could change on a dime.
Amid this season's earlier struggles, it's easy to see why moving on from Moore was on Bears fans' minds. He's on the books for another four seasons, commanding a cap hit of $28.5 million in each of the next three years, per Spotrac. Considering how a post-June 1 trade would create $24.5 million in cap savings, the support behind a potential divorce wasn't shocking.
Fast forward to now, though, and it's hard to imagine Moore elsewhere in 2026.
All of this goodwill can be immediately undone with another disappearing act in the postseason. The last thing Chicago needs is Moore becoming this year's version of Jameson Williams on the Detroit Lions. He was WR2 all season long, then hauled in one reception for 19 yards in the Lions' 45-31 loss to the Washington Commanders in the playoffs. In Johnson's offense, of course.
The Bears are a logical candidate to impress in the regular season and lay an egg in the postseason with a second-year quarterback. Moore just needs to make sure he is a factor in helping to avoid that disaster, which means he'll need to display more of what he showed Saturday night.
If Moore can capitalize on his momentum to end the year on a high note, regardless of how deep in the playoffs that might be, that might be enough to guarantee that he won't leave the Bears this offseason.