Chicago Is Nearing a Contract Crossroads With DJ Moore

The Bears have assembled an impressive array of offensive talent, but there’s already some uncertainty about how long they can keep this group together.

You won’t have to worry about Caleb Williams and his rookie contract for a while, but he has a lot of pricey weapons at his disposal and DJ Moore could be the one to invest in. 

And it would serve the Bears to do so sooner rather than later.

DJ Moore Is the Player the Bears Should Invest in Long Term

Williams has an awesome wide receiver corps highlighted by Keenan Allen, Rome Odunze, and Moore.

Odunze is also on a rookie contract, but unfortunately, both Allen and Moore are due for new contracts soon.

The Athletic recently highlighted one contract situation to watch per team and named Moore as the one for Chicago, for good reason. 

“Moore’s contract goes through 2025, so nothing is urgent, but he’s currently 17th among receivers in terms of average salary and coming off a career year,” writes Kevin Fishbain. “Moore has become one of the faces of the franchise, and maybe GM Ryan Poles wants to reward that with a new deal sooner rather than later.”

Allen’s contract expires after this season while Moore’s is up after 2025.

It’s going to be tough to keep both and Moore is clearly the better, but pricier option. Allen is making $18 million this year and it’s going to be hard to see him accepting a big pay cut simply because of his age (32-years-old). 

If Allen has another 1,000-yard campaign – or anything close to that – he’s going to certainly be looking for one last big deal to end his career. 

But Moore is the player you want for the long haul. 

Moore is set to make $15.85 million this season and $14.85 million next season, and he’s undoubtedly going to be looking for a pay raise. 

And that’s just fine.

Moore has recorded 1,100+ receiving yards in four of the past five seasons, with the exception being a year of dreadful QB play with the Panthers in 2022.

He can line up outside or in the slot and also excels at turning short passes into big plays (11th in the NFL in yards after catch in 2023). 

At 27 years old, his age represents a huge advantage over Allen.

This all seems obvious. But the timing is tricky. If Chicago extends Allen to avoid him becoming a free agent, they would have to invest a ridiculous amount of money into its receivers to keep Moore as well. 

So why wait? If Moore has an even better season (without Justin Fields at QB), he’ll be able to argue for a huge pay raise. 

Chicago can’t wait. Extend Moore before this becomes a crossroads that is even more difficult to navigate.

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