The Chicago Bears extended D.J. Moore in a move that is not too surprising. Moore did have two years remaining on his current contract, but the landscape of receiver salaries and his play both dictated something get done sooner.
3. The Chicago Bears are not breaking the bank on DJ Moore
The extension makes sense for D.J. Moore as the signing bonus gives him a nice upfront payday, and he was already being underpaid by wide receiver standards. More than that, the guarantees in his contract make it safer for him to sign now rather than hold out for more money.
The extension makes sense for the Chicago Bears because it is team-friendly. The extension does not kick in until after next season. The Bears will still have cap hits of just $16M over the next two years. Even when the cap hits do increase, they will be in the average annual value range of $27.5M.
That sounds like a big jump, but that would currently put him sixth amongst wide receivers in AAV. Guys such as Ja’Marr Chase and Brandon Aiyuk have not gotten paid yet, and both will exceed Moore. Even younger players like Garrett Wilson will get a contract before the Moore extension is complete, and that will upend Moore.
As noted, one of the key wins for Moore was the guarantees. He is third in guaranteed money. Still, that is likely getting ahead of a trend as we will see most of those other players pass this bar as well.
As the salary cap goes up every year and the wide receivers keep making more money the Bears will see just how valuable it is to sign him right now to the cap hits that he is about to be on. This is a huge win.