DJ Moore’s heroic season ends with bizarre lazy mistake. Should Bears trade him?

Story by

Story by
DJ Moore’s heroic season ends with bizarre lazy mistake. Should Bears trade him?

Douglas Fritz, ClutchPoints · ClutchPoints

Tue, Jan 20, 2026 ·

4 min read

About Our Ads

DJ Moore's heroic season ends with bizarre lazy mistake. Should Bears trade him? appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .

It didn't take long for the howling to start against Chicago Bears wide receiver DJ Moore . And Terrell Owens felt the need to weigh in on the situation. Moore's heroic season ended with a bizzare lazy mistake, so should the Bears trade him?

Moore seemed to run aimlessly away from a third-down toss by Caleb Williams . The play turned into a diving interception by Rams' safety Kam Curl. The Rams drove into field goal position and earned a 20-17 overtime victory that sent them to the NFC Championship.

Quarterback Caleb Williams tried to defend Moore, according to a post on X by SportsCenter.

"I had DJ going over top, over all of it," Williams said. "Just a miscommunication between him and I. Tried to flatten him off under the safety. And he kept it vertical from, you know, what I saw, obviously, in the moment."

But what does this play say for the Chicago future of Moore?

Bears WR DJ Moore had a poor overall season

He started all 17 games, but the production didn't match that of a premier NFL starter. Moore caught only 50 passes for 682 yards with six touchdowns. Those numbers marked the lowest of his NFL career, including his rookie year when he totaled 55 grabs for 788 yards.

And one view of the fateful play against the Rams makes things look very bad for Moore, according to a post on X by SM Highlights.

"This angle makes DJ Moore look even worse. He didn't even give up on his route at a certain point, it was zero effort the entire route. Really trying to (wrap) my head around this one 🤔"

The first question in terms of a trade would be: What could the Bears get?

Moore will turn 29 in April and appears to be on the downside of his career. It's unlikely the Bears could get much more than a late-round pick for the eight-year veteran.

Moore did have a nice impact in the victory over the Packers . He caught six passes for 64 yards and a touchdown. That score was the game-winning grab with 1:43 left in the contest.

Then, against the Rams, Moore totaled five receptions for 52 yards. He got the Bears on the board with a second-quarter touchdown.

But the lapse at the end of the game will be hard for Bears fans to forget.

Bears WR DJ Moore slipping down pecking order?

Here's one reason to consider keeping Moore. He will likely enter the 2026 season as the Bears' No. 3 wide receiver.

Luther Burden III could emerge as the top threat with Rome Odunze settling into the No. 2 role. Even if that turns out be vice-versa, Moore stays at No. 3.

And it's not a bad place to be the No. 3 target at this stage in his career. If defenses focus too much on the other guys, Moore could be in line for big plays at key moments in games. That's especially true with a crafty play-caller like Ben Johnson.

If the Bears don't make any changes to their wide receiver room, via free agency or the draft, they should stick with Moore.

However, if they bring in a starting free-agent option, they should send Moore packing. And if a rookie shows up next year and pushes past Moore, the Bears could let him go.

One of the biggest problems Moore will have next year is the fans' perspective on him. Also, the media will be looking to dissect everything. And this play will get brought up again and again.

That won't help the Bears as a team for the 2026 season. And they should consider that in terms of whether Moore is a part of next year's roster.

Mobilize your Website

View Site in Mobile | Classic

Share by: