The Chicago Bears have some tough roster decisions to make in the next few months before the new league year begins in March. At the top of the list is DJ Moore. The wide receiver is coming off an uneven year. His production took another dip compared to the previous two seasons, despite having some of the most memorable catches in recent franchise history to beat the Green Bay Packers. Some wonder if that is enough to overlook his declining impact and growing salary cap hit. Moore will count $28.5 million on the books next season.

This has led to speculation that the Bears might consider trading him at some point this spring. It would free up over $16 million in cap space, likely secure them an extra draft pick, and allow head coach Ben Johnson to get younger players like Luther Burden and Colston Loveland more targets in the passing game. GM Ryan Poles was careful with his comments this week, indicating Moore had been battling some injury problems and praising his toughness. Bill Barnwell of ESPN was less evasive.

He thinks the odds are high that Moore is traded.

There are unquestionably strengths to Moore’s game, including his willingness to go over the middle of the field and his ability with the ball in his hands. He has also developed a reputation for, depending on who you ask, freelancing or not always having his head in games. He looked to be sleepwalking through a lost 2024 season at times, and it certainly seems as if the 2018 first-round pick didn’t run the right route or make the right adjustment on the interception Caleb Williams threw in overtime during the divisional round loss to the Rams. It seemed telling that he wasn’t in the locker room after the game or during the locker cleanout Monday…

…Moore is still a starting-caliber wideout, and there should be interest if the Bears do listen to offers. A middle-round pick would be a realistic return, but the real benefit might be freeing up $24.5 million in 2026 cash, which would allow Johnson and Poles to realign the offense in the coach’s preferred vision.

The Bears should have plenty of interested parties for DJ Moore.

It’s always about supply and demand. Teams like bringing in proven veteran receivers when the compensation isn’t likely to be much. A 4th round pick is a small price tag for somebody with Moore’s track record, especially since he’s still under 30. The trick is finding a team that can handle his larger contract. Looking at the NFL landscape, teams like Tennessee, Las Vegas, New York, and Washington all have the necessary cap space and a need for help at wide receiver. It all depends on which of them feels Moore would be the most help.

You could also look at contenders like Philadelphia and Buffalo. Both have done extensive business with the Bears over the past few years. The Bills have a glaring need at wide receiver. The Eagles may soon have one if they end up trading A.J. Brown as expected. Trading DJ Moore shouldn’t be a huge challenge for the Bears. It’s all about whether they actually want to. We should get details on that once the Super Bowl concludes in the next few weeks.

Ben Johnson knew when he assembled his coaching staff last winter that there was a strong probability he’d end up losing key guys pretty quickly. Such is the price you pay for trying to put together the most qualified group possible. The Chicago Bears have already lost Eric Bieniemy to the Kansas City Chiefs, who made him their new offensive coordinator. It now looks like Al Harris may soon go the same route as a defensive coordinator. If that weren’t enough, offensive coordinator Declan Doyle is getting looks for play calling opportunities elsewhere.

If all three do go, Johnson will need alternatives to replace them. Here are some names you can expect the Bears to at least take a look at.

Ben Johnson should have some quality options available.

RBs Coach: Duce Staley

Losing Bieniemy always felt inevitable for the Bears. The good news is that the massive turnover across the NFL has made some highly capable running backs coaches available. Staley is at the top of the list. He worked with Johnson for two years in Detroit, including his first year as offensive coordinator in 2022. Staley is a former running back himself who has done an excellent job coaching the position everywhere he’s been, including the past two years in Cleveland with the Browns.

DBs Coach: Teryl Austin

Austin has been a highly successful defensive coordinator in both Detroit and Pittsburgh over his lengthy career. Outside of that, he’s also earned a glowing reputation as a defensive backs coach. Over a long career, he’s developed guys like Marcus Trufant, Ken Hamlin, Lardarius Webb, Jimmy Smith, Darius Slay, and Quandre Diggs, among others. If anyone is qualified to take over Harris’s job moving forward, it would be Austin. There certainly wouldn’t be much risk of him leaving since he’s 60 years old.

Offensive coordinator: Jim Dray

Dray has been generating a lot of positive buzz in NFL circles over the past couple of years. He did great work this season with Colston Loveland and Cole Kmet. It would make sense that Ben Johnson wants to reward that work with a promotion to offensive coordinator. Don’t forget the Bears are hiring Will Lawing to the staff. He has an extensive background coaching tight ends. He could easily take over for Dray. It will depend on whether Doyle leaves. Right now, Philadelphia is the only team interested in him, lowing the odds of an exit.

Ryan Poles is no fool. He understands the Chicago Bears have been in this position before. They finally break through the playoffs after a lengthy absence, win the division, and look poised to reach a Super Bowl. That is what happened in 2018. Unfortunately, the team wasn’t able to build on their success from that season, stagnating with back-to-back 8-8 years before regressing to the basement again. When Poles took over, he knew he had to find a way to sustain the Bears’ success whenever it finally came.

That moment arrived in 2025. The Bears went 11-6, beat the Packers in the wild card round, and were an overtime away from the NFC Championship. Head coach Ben Johnson said the team would have to start over from scratch, rebuilding everything from the ground up to get this team to the mountaintop. Poles had his own comments on the situation. While proud of the progress made, he acknowledged that what they’ve done wasn’t enough.

From the sound of things, the Bears might be more aggressive this spring than people realize.

“I am proud of the progress that we’ve made. And knowing that, we can’t be complacent. We’ve got to keep pushing forward. [Johnson and I] both come from organizations (Detroit and Kansas City) that have stacked success in back-to-back years. We know the challenge that comes with having success and then trying to get back to that the following year.

“I can tell you right now, we’re all excited for that challenge in terms of building this team back up, making tweaks, tightening screws on the process, and the people that we need to continue to elevate for us to get back to where we were and exceed that, and win championships around here.”

Ryan Poles will likely take an approach of calculated aggression.

That is to say, he won’t break the bank trying to chase a Super Bowl in 2026 or bust. More it will be an effort to secure one or two difference-makers on the veteran market before seeking another strong draft class in April. Some may believe this means he will try to deliver a blockbuster moment via trade, say for Maxx Crosby or another big name. The more likely scenario is that he frees up enough salary cap space to grab one or two prominent free agents who can fill key voids on the roster.

The point is, Ryan Poles has no plans to rest on his laurels. It would be so easy for a conservative GM to just maintain the status quo. This team was one throw away from the NFC championship game. There is no reason to change too much, right? Wrong. All this year proved is that the team isn’t good enough. They’re better, sure. Not good enough to be champions. That is why he must keep pushing. Push until that Lombardi trophy is in his hands. Don’t expect the Bears to be passive a few months from now.

They say some guys just never learn. Tyrique Stevenson reached his low point as a member of the Chicago Bears with his infamous incident last season in Washington. Everybody remembers seeing him on the field jawing at fans in the stands, acting like the game was over despite the Commanders still having another play left. By the time he realized the mistake, the play was in motion. Stevenson was late getting into position and ended up tipping the ball right to Noah Brown for the game-winning touchdown.

You thought there was no possible way a player could be that stupid. Stevenson was understandably chastened by what happened and tried to stay out of trouble after that. Unfortunately, it seems he didn’t learn his lesson. Towards the end of the first half against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, Stevenson forced an incompletion from Matthew Stafford to Davante Adams. After the play, he again started celebrating with fans in the stands. Teammate Kevin Byard had to yell at him to get back on the field because the half wasn’t over.

It’s getting easier to see why Tyrique Stevenson lost playing time.

For all his ability, the Bears seemed to use him less and less during the second half of the season. It was stated that the team wanted to keep Nahshon Wright on the field after the great year he had. However, it felt like something else was going on. After seeing that incident against L.A., it is a cold reminder that Stevenson still hasn’t gotten over his discipline problems. The dip in playing time was probably an indication from the coaching staff that they didn’t trust him enough to do his job consistently.

It is fair to wonder what the future holds for Tyrique Stevenson. Don’t forget he was drafted to play in a totally different system under Matt Eberflus. With the former coach long gone, there is nobody left in the building who likely sees the young cornerback as a true building block. That makes the 2026 his likely do-or-die campaign. Unless he can start changing some minds between now and then, his time in Chicago runs short. That is especially true with a few more incidents like this.

There is probably no more divisive figure in the Chicago Bears locker room right now than DJ Moore. On the one hand, the team doesn’t reach the divisional round without the veteran receiver’s help. His huge catches against Green Bay put them in position to win the NFC North and then the wild card round. At the same time, people can’t get over his baffling lack of urgency on the pivotal play of the Rams game that led to a backbreaking interception. It seems like that has been a problem with him all year.

Plenty of fans are tired of his inconsistency. Given his massive contract, they believe the time is right for the Bears to trade him. They have Rome Odunze and Luther Burden. The team can afford to move on. GM Ryan Poles was asked about the Moore situation during his end-of-season press conference. His response completely changed the nature of the conversation. From how he phrased his words, it sounds like Moore had been playing most of the season at less than 100%.

“I’ll use his words: he didn’t care about stats. All he cared about was winning. This is the most winning DJ has ever had, probably since high school. That’s all he cares about. In terms of (the) roster, like I said, we got a lot of decisions to make in figuring that out. I think what stood out about DJ this year is the level of toughness rubbed off on our team. Guys if they were dinged up, like they almost had to go because DJ was going. He was able to fight through a lot. Got a lot of respect for him.”

DJ Moore being unhealthy explains a lot.

It could be that all those times when he wasn’t going full speed weren’t an effort problem but a pain problem. We really didn’t see peak Moore most of the season. Some chalked it up to him losing a step or not having a proper place in Ben Johnson’s offense. His nursing an undisclosed injury certainly explains a lot. It also complicates the situation even further for the Bears. His contract is still one of the largest on the team. They need cap space. Poles has a tough decision to make.

Does he look to restructure the contract to keep DJ Moore on the roster or trade him anyway, despite the receiver not being considered a locker room problem? The smart play for any team is to not intentionally weaken the arsenal of your quarterback unless given no other choice. Chicago doesn’t need to do a ton of heavy lifting to keep Moore on the team. Much of this comes down to how much Caleb Williams wants him to stay and whether the injury issue has long-term consequences.