Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles had the perfect opportunity to talk to reporters to shut down the recent trade rumors involving wide receiver DJ Moore. Well, he didn't quite do that.
Moore has been at the center of a lot of trade rumors as the Bears look to get out of the negatives on the salary cap and get back in the green, but they must make some moves first. Poles praised Moore in his comments with the media, but left the door open to anything happening.
"I got to have conversations and kind of see what the best combination of players we can bring in," Poles said via The Score's Chris Emma. "(But) we want him here. We think highly of him. He's a great teammate. He has been productive pretty consistently over the last couple years that he has been here. So, I have nothing but great things to say about him. But this is the time where we have to look at all the different scenarios and see what can allow us to put the best team we can put out there. There's relationships there, there's a lot there that makes it really, really difficult. He's a guy we want here, but we have to look at all the different scenarios."
Ryan Poles praised DJ Moore, but didn't shut down trade talks
In fairness to Poles, he did say that he wants Moore in Chicago. The problem is the Bears have to make up a lot of ground with the cap, and Moore is the best way to do that.
Moore still has four years on his contract after signing a four-year, $110 million extension with the team a few years ago. He is going to have a $28.5 million cap hit against the Bears if he stays on the roster in 2026.
Chicago can't cut Moore, as they would lose cap savings if they did, so the only option is to trade him before June 1. If the Bears do that, they will save $16.5 million against the cap and have a dead cap of $12 million.
It's no secret that Moore has regressed dramatically with the Bears over the last couple of years, despite being a great leader on the team. He went from going over 1,300 receiving yards in 2023 to falling under 700 yards last year.
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The Bears would love to have Moore on the roster, but they might not have a choice but to move on from the veteran receiver.