It’s a strong start to the Bills’ offseason.
The Buffalo Bills have made a significant move to improve the offensive weaponry around Josh Allen, acquiring wide receiver D.J. Moore in a trade with the Chicago Bears.
Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Bills are sending a second-round pick in the 2026 draft to the Bears in exchange for Moore and a fifth-round pick this year.
Schefter reported that the Bills will guarantee $15.5million of Moore’s 2028 base salary. His $23.5m base salary for 2027 will become fully guaranteed next week, when the new league year begins and the trade can be officially processed. Moore’s 2026 salary of $23.5m is already guaranteed.
That kind of outlay, both in terms of draft capital and salary, is a risk given Moore will be 29 when the 2026 season starts and that he is coming off the least productive season of his NFL career.
Indeed, Moore had just 682 yards and six touchdowns last year for a Bears team that progressed to the Divisional Round of the NFC playoffs.
Yet Moore was still an efficient receiver and averaged 13.6 yards per catch in 2025, with his disappointing production in overall yardage a product of the Bears having more mouths to feed offensively. Rookie tight end Colston Loveland was their leading receiver (713 yards), while Rome Odunze and rookie Luther Burden Jr. each had over 600 yards.
Moore will not have such competition for targets in Buffalo, with the Bills’ lack of dynamic options at wide receiver a well-documented problem in Western New York.
Bills land their number one
Khalil Shakir was the Bills’ leading receiver last season with 719 yards and four touchdowns. However, the Buffalo offense has been heavily reliant on the tight end position for passing-game production in recent seasons.
Keon Coleman, a 2024 second-round pick at receiver, endured a disappointing 2025, and the fact that Allen was throwing to 32-year-old Brandin Cooks and former undrafted free agent Tyrell Shavers at key junctures of a season that also ended in the Divisional Round spoke volumes about the Bills issues at the position.
As such, Moore should automatically slot in as the number one wideout for Buffalo, and he will be playing for a coach with whom he already has a prior connection.
The Bills promoted offensive coordinator Joe Brady to head coach this offseason, having fired Sean McDermott in the wake of their latest playoff failure. Moore played for Brady for two seasons when the Bills coach was the offensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers in 2020 and 2021.
Buffalo will hope reuniting Moore with Brady will lead to him delivering number one wide receiver production catching passes from one of the league’s premier quarterbacks. The Bills have further issues to address as they look to finally get over the hump in the AFC, but there’s a lot to suggest trading for Moore was a strong start to their offseason.
