Saving Caleb Williams: 4 D.J. Moore trades that could transform the Chicago Bears offense in 2025

Bears GM Ryan Poles faces an offensive crisis. Could dealing Chicago’s WR1 be the answer?
Will this be the final picture we ever see of Caleb Williams and D.J. Moore together in Chicago Bears unis?
Will this be the final picture we ever see of Caleb Williams and D.J. Moore together in Chicago Bears unis? / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

D.J. Moore has caught 90-plus balls in three of his seven NFL seasons.

D.J. Moore has racked up four seasons of 1,000-plus receiving yards.

D.J. Moore has lost only five fumbles in his entire career.

Great stuff, for sure. But D.J. Moore’s win/loss record as an NFL player is 40-64.

He’s an excellent receiver and an all-around great dude, but his on-field performance doesn’t impact winning. And that’s a problem for the Chicago Bears.

Sure, you can point to the fact that the two franchises for whom Moore has played—the Bears and the Carolina Panthers—have been spinning their wheels for, well, forever. And sure, you can note that in his seven years in the league, he’s played alongside nine starting quarterbacks of varying quality and experience:

  • Cam Newton
  • Kyle Allen
  • Will Grier
  • Teddy Bridgewater
  • P.J. Walker         
  • Sam Darnold
  • Baker Mayfield
  • Justin Fields
  • Caleb Williams

But considering his .384 winning percentage, Moore might be a Charles Barkley-type, a stat monster who, for reasons we’ll likely never understand, can’t drag his team across the finish line.

Chicago’s House D.J.

The University of Maryland product certainly hasn’t impacted winning in Chicago—in Moore’s two-year stint in the Windy City, the Bears have been victorious in just 12 of his 34 games. Again, it’s far from all his fault—we’re talking to you, Shane Waldron, Luke Getsy, and blech offensive lines—but the team’s lack of forward motion has one wondering if Moore’s presence on the roster—not to mention the four-year, $110 million contract he signed in the summer of 2024—is hindering the Bears’ future.

Chicago has a ton of holes on the offensive side of the ball, and Moore has yet to prove that he can get a team to the postseason, so might it be worth it for Bears GM Ryan Poles to dip his toe in the trade waters?

There are plenty of NFL franchises who’d jump at the chance to acquire a low-end WR1/high-end WR2, so maybe Poles—in the spirit of helping Caleb Williams thrive in 2025 and beyond—should consider one of the below four deals:

1) Baltimore Ravens

Ravens receive

  • ·      WR D.J. Moore
  • ·      TE Cole Kmet

Bears receive

  • ·      TE Mark Andrews
  • ·      2025 fourth round pick (2 - #135)


Quick, which Chicago Bears tight end has the most yardage in a single season since 1985?

Unless you did a quick Google search, there’s no way you’d have said Martellus Bennett, who put together a 916-yard year in 2014. Bennett’s 759 yards in 2013 was Chicago’s second-highest single-season TE yardage total over that same stretch; beyond that, we’re looking at a whole heap of 500-ish-yard years from the position.

That’s almost four decades of tight end mediocrity, an era that would come to an end when Mark Andrews enters the building.

(It’s worth noting that, statistically speaking, Moore leads Andrews in every major category except for one: Touchdowns. Andrews has found paydirt on 51 occasions, as opposed to Moore’s 35.)

As for the Ravens, yes, Andrews is Lamar Jackson’s de facto go-to, but Ravens TE2 Isaiah Likely is a steady performer, and Kmet will slide in neatly as his backup. Bateman’s a good enough player, and the Ravens could get decent value with the 135th pick, but pairing Jackson with Moore would soften any and all blows.

2) Cleveland Browns

Browns receive

  • ·      WR D.J. Moore
  • ·      RB D’Andre Swift

Bears receive

  • ·      TE David Njoku
  • ·      2025 second round pick (#33)

Njoku doesn’t have Andrews’ resume, but he’s a year younger, and this deal would net the Bears a third second-rounder this season, one of which they can use to grab a cap-friendly replacement for Swift. (Or they could snatch up Ashton Jeanty in the first round.)

While Swift underperformed in his first year in Chicago, Cleveland is sorely in need of an RB1 who can stay healthy—poor Nick Chubb is an injury-waiting-to-happen—so the two potentially-former-Bears would be ideal additions to a Browns’ rebooted offense that might be led by a newbie like Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders.

3) New York Jets

Jets receive

  • ·      WR D.J. Moore
  • ·      2025 seventh round pick (#241)

Bears receive

  • ·      WR Garrett Wilson
  • ·      OT Olu Fashanu
  • ·      2025 fourth round pick (#108)

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. If the eventual new Jets GM wants to sweep his Wilson problem under the rug, he might be willing to overpay for Moore.

What’s become a problem for the Jets could become a solution for the Bears—and a good one at that. In 2024, Wilson out-statted Moore all over the place, topping him in receptions (+3), yards (+138), and touchdowns (+1)…all this while playing half of the season as WR2 to Davante Adams’ WR1.

At 24, Wilson is three years younger than Moore, but the 27-year-old is the sexier name—and seemingly less of a kvetch—so for New York, this could be a case of addition by subtraction.

4) New England Patriots

Patriots receive

  • ·      WR D.J. Moore
  • ·      2025 seventh round pick (TBD)

Bears receive

  • ·      TE Hunter Henry
  • ·      2025 second round pick (#38)

No offense to DeMario Douglas and Kayshon Boutte, but Pats are one of the most WR-needy teams in the league, and GM Eliot Wolf would undoubtedly love to hand emerging quarterback Drake Maye a top-shelf pass-catcher. Would Wolf be willing to give up a second-rounder to make that happen?

That gets a big, fat maybe. But if Poles throws in one of his two seventh rounders, anything’s possible.

Moore or Less?

Moving on from a high-end talent like D.J. Moore wouldn’t be easy, but unless he can help a team win—something he has yet to prove he can do—it’s well worth a serious discussion…especially when your number one offensive goal for 2025 should be to unlock every ounce of Caleb Williams’ potential.


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Alan Goldsher
ALAN GOLDSHER

Alan Goldsher has written about sports for Sports Illustrated, ESPN, Apple, Playboy, NFL.com, and NBA.com, and he’s the creator of the Chicago Sports Stuff Substack. He’s the bestselling author of 15 books, and the founder/CEO of Gold Note Records. Alan lives in Chicago, where he writes, makes music, and consumes and creates way too much Bears content. You can visit him at http://www.AlanGoldsher.com and http://x.com/AlanGoldsher.