Trade Proposal Has Bears Swapping DJ Moore for $20.5 Million Star OL

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Bears wide receiver DJ Moore.

The Chicago Bears will expectedly work to retool their offense around starting quarterback Caleb Williams during the 2025 NFL offseason, but would they consider giving up wide receiver DJ Moore to get him some star protection?

Sports Illustrated’s Alan Goldsher recently pushed the possibility of the Bears trading Moore to “transform” their offense for the 2025 season and proposed one deal with the New York Jets that would land them a blockbuster-caliber return for their top wideout.

Here is the complete trade that Goldsher pitched:

Chicago Bears receive: offensive tackle Olu Fashanu (2024 first-round pick), wide receiver Garrett Wilson (2022 first-round pick) and a 2025 fourth-round pick (No. 108)

New York Jets receive: Moore and a 2025 seventh-round pick (No. 241)

“Like hundreds of thousands of New York football fans around the world, Wilson has been vocal about his frustration with the Jets, and while he hasn’t explicitly demanded a trade, it’s clear he wants out,” Goldsher wrote. “If the eventual new Jets GM wants to sweep his Wilson problem under the rug, he might be willing to overpay for Moore.”

How Realistic is Bears Trading Away WR DJ Moore?

A contentious season in Chicago has stirred up numerous trade rumors about Moore as the Bears search for their next head coach and look to shake up their offense, but unless there is undisclosed drama behind the scenes, the Bears have little reason to trade him.

Moore finished as the Bears’ receptions and receiving yards leader for a second straight season in 2024, securing a career-high 98 catches for 966 yards and six touchdowns. While he seemed frustrated at times with the lack of offensive success — and indicated as much in interviews — he remains one of their most dynamic offensive players.

The Bears also signed Moore to a four-year, $110 million contract extension in August that runs through the 2029 season and comes with $82.6 million in injury guarantees. While Moore’s contract does not make trading him an impossible task, it would require the Bears to eat about two-thirds of his $24.8 million cap hit for the 2025 season — an inadvisable move for a team that is looking to acquire offensive talent, not shed it.

The Bears have the big picture to consider when it comes to Moore. They will have first-round pick Rome Odunze back in 2025 along with forgotten 2023 fourth-rounder Tyler Scott, but Keenan Allen and DeAndre Carter will enter free agency, while the remaining receivers on the Bears’ roster made a minimal impact during the 2024 regular season.

Even if the Bears plan to draft another receiver, it is hard to think that a Moore trade would be in the best interest of Williams, the franchise’s quarterback and top priority.

Could Bears Resist Adding Garrett Wilson & Olu Fashanu?

Then again, the Bears would need to at least consider a trade for Moore if the Jets were delusional enough to offer them Wilson, Fashanu and a fourth-round pick in the deal.

Moore is an accomplished wide receiver, but so too is Wilson, who is also younger and putting up similar numbers as Moore did when he played for the Carolina Panthers. The Bears would have to be ready to sign Wilson to a lucrative contract extension, but they would have plenty of room on the books if they unloaded Moore’s pricey contract and could then lean on the duo of Wilson and Odunze for the foreseeable future.

What makes the deal grander for the Bears is the inclusion of Fashanu and an early Day 3 draft pick. Fashanu played 533 offensive snaps and made seven starts both at right and left tackle during his 2024 rookie season after the Jets took him at No. 11 overall. While a foot injury ended his season prematurely, though, he could immediately offer the Bears another building block for their under-construction offensive for 2025.

The pick is just a cherry on top but is in a round in which the Bears have no selections.

Now, it is unclear what would ever possess the Jets to make such a high-end offer for Moore, but NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport has reported there are questions “privately” within the organization about whether Wilson can co-exist with Aaron Rodgers as the team’s starting quarterback if the Jets bring him back for the 2025 season.

If Wilson wants out, he could attempt to force the Jets’ hand with a holdout and launch an entirely new wave of trade rumors and speculation about him.