Updated Look at Chicago Bears 2026 Salary Cap after the DJ Moore Trade

The Chicago Bears traded veteran receiver DJ Moore and a fifth-round selection to the Buffalo Bills for a second-round pick (60th overall) today.

TRADE: Bears trading WR DJ Moore to Bills. (via @rapsheet, @tompelissero) pic.twitter.com/GpkdBIhwBy
— NFL (@NFL) March 5, 2026

While it'll hurt to see Moore donning blue and red, it was a necessary evil move that created some much-needed cap space for a team looking to take advantage of a Super Bowl window (before they have to back the Brinks truck up for Caleb Williams).

Notably, the Bills took on Moore's entire remaining contract, which will pay him $24.5 million over the next four years. That's an important factor, and makes this move a big win in Chicago's favor (I honestly thought they were going to be stuck with a fourth-round pick or worse).

The Bears created $16.5 million in cap space by offloading Moore. That's significant when you consider that they also received roughly $10 million in cap relief after center Drew Dalman's sudden retirement yesterday. They'd certainly rather have Dalman's contract on the books and continuity along the offensive line, but that's still a decent chunk of change there.

According to OverTheCap, Chicago will have roughly $18.1 million in cap space after Dalman's retirement officially hits the books. They'll also clear up $15 million more once they offload Tremaine Edmunds' contract (which is somewhat of a foregone conclusion at this point).

Of note, they also have a significant amount of wiggle room when it comes to contract restructures. That will be another opportunity for them to create a ton of cap room and potentially fill some (newly created) voids via free agency.

While they were previously limited by some hefty contracts, they now have the option to go for whoever they want (as long as it doesn't hinder their ability to resign Caleb Williams and Darnell Wright next offseason) in free agency. Alternatively, they can also be real players in the Maxx Crosby sweepstakes.

Meanwhile, the Bears have cleared a bunch of cap room this week, with Drew Dalman retiring and DJ Moore traded. We'd mentioned earlier that they've shown some interest in Tyler Linderbaum and Maxx Crosby. Stay tuned.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) March 5, 2026

The 2026 Chicago Bears are going to look a LOT different than the 2025 Chicago Bears. However, that might not be such a bad thing. They still have a unique opportunity to field a great roster, and it could be a significantly more well-rounded squad than the one that stole the fans' hearts (while simultaneously almost stopping them) last season.

They couldn't go one offseason without being a team to keep an eye on, could they? Ryan Poles and Co. are trying to reclaim their annual offseason crown. Trading Moore for a mid-round pick and eating some of his contract wouldn't have done them any favors in that regard, but it's difficult to find fault in adding a second and getting the entire deal off the books.