DJ Moore traded to the Buffalo Bills from the Chicago Bears

The Buffalo Bills have traded for Chicago Bears wide receiver DJ Moore. The move reunites Moore with his former coach, Joe Brady, who was with him while they were on the Carolina Panthers. Moore reshapes the Bills wide receiver move in just the right way, and at age 28, he has many more solid years to contribute.

According to reports, the move is a second-round choice in the 2026 NFL Draft for Moore and Buffalo gets a fifth-round pick in return. With Buffalo’s pick being late second round, the fifth back makes the total value of the trade roughly the same as a high third-round pick.

The move cannot be official until next Wednesday when the league year opens.

Moore is due $24.5 million in every season from 2026 to 2029. His salary is fully guaranteed in 2026 and $15 million of the 2027 salary will guarantee next week. Per agent Drew Rosenhaus, the Bills are also guaranteeing $15.5 million of Moore’s 2028 salary. He signed the original deal in 2024 with the Bears.

Brady and Moore were together in 2020 and 2021 when Brady was the offensive coordinator in Carolina. Those were two 1000-yard seasons for Moore, and he went for 18.1 yards per reception in 2020. He has the opportunity in Buffalo with Josh Allen to develop into a number 1 receiver at best or a 1b receiver at worst.

Moore has been on a downward trend with the Bears over the last three years, totaling 1364 yards in 2023 before 966 in 2024 and 682 in 2025 as he was passed by Rome Odunze and the Bears used their tight ends as a core part of their offense. That culminated in him potentially checking out at times in Chicago, according to Bears fans, including the final route he ran with the Bears.

“I think it makes sense for both sides. He was the Bears’ fourth option going into next year and they needed the flexibility with now two holes on the o line,” one Bears media personality told me.

This isn’t the first trade between the Bears and Bills in recent history. During the 2025 and 2024 drafts, they swapped picks. In march 2024 the Bills traded Ryan Bates to Chicago.

The relationship between the Bears and Bills, Brady’s familiarity with Moore, the potential to be a number one option, and the relatively low cost of the trade always made Moore the odds-on favorite to be the receiver the Bills added this offseason.

Buffalo Bills wide receiver depth chart after adding DJ Moore

The Bills’ wide receiver depth chart now looks pretty darn good with DJ Moore as the top man. With DJ Moore and Josh Palmer as your primary boundary receivers and Khalil Shakir in the slot, Keon Coleman as your top reserve and Mecole Hardman as deep depth and special teams, the Bills will still add at the position this offseason. They will likely release Curtis Samuel shortly, freeing up a spot for another free agent or more likely a draft pick. They could also re-sign Brandin Cooks to give them another boundary receiver option.

It will be tough to count on Tyrell Shavers after his playoff knee injury.

The Bills are certainly not done at the position.