The Chicago Bears were one of the few teams that could afford to part ways with a WR1-caliber player. They didn't get the expected production from DJ Moore, and flipping him for a second-round pick was just too good a deal to turn down.
Fast forward to today, and while the Bears still haven't gotten top-tier production from any of their wide receivers, all of them have had big games and have taken turns to lead the way. Moore, on the other hand, hasn't played much.
Moore missed most of Week 2 against the Detroit Lions with a shoulder injury. He aggravated it in Week 4, and he's now listed as doubtful for his team's next game. It looks like the Bears may have dodged a bullet here.
The Bears don't miss DJ Moore one bit
Moore is a fine player and all, but he's not a superstar. He's making $27.5 million a year, and that's just too much to pay for a team that already has playmakers like Rome Odunze and Luther Burden III. Even Kalif Raymond and rookie Sam Roush can give this team more for less.
The Bears flipped the pick they got from the Bills to draft TE Sam Roush and CB Malik Muhammad. The first is still a work in progress, but the second looks like a star in the making and a cornerstone for the secondary.
There were sky-high expectations about Moore's production in Chicago, and while he did well, he never lived up to the hype. He totalled 244 receptions, 3,012 receiving yards, and 20 touchdowns in 51 games which, again, is solid but not that special.
Now, he has an opportunity to be Josh Allen's primary pass catcher, and he got his Bills career started off with a bang before that injury. But shoulder ailments tend to sting and linger, and this could turn out to be a season-long issue.
The Bears have done an amazing job of building their offense in the past couple of years. They have much more talent than the average team, and Ben Johnson has managed to get everyone to buy in, do their jobs without complaining, and just wait in line until they get their due.
That may not have been possible with a proven veteran making top dollar in the locker room. Moore was always a class act, but he might not have been happy with getting just a couple of catches a game.
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