Chicago Bears

DJ Moore extension provides stability for Caleb Williams, Bears offense

Published Jul. 31, 2024 4:12 p.m. ET

DJ Moore's initial reaction to finding out he was traded to Chicago back in 2023?

"Aw, s---."

The Carolina Panthers receiver and his family had just moved into a new house. The Chicago Bears were coming off a 3-14 season. There was, understandably, a fair bit of skepticism on Moore's part.

"But then I was just like, new beginnings, new everything," Moore explained to Chicago reporters on Wednesday. "We were all bought-in once we got here. There was no looking back. We're here now for the long-haul.

"For real, for real."

He wasn't kidding.

On Tuesday evening, Moore signed a four-year, $110 million extension with the Bears. It includes $82.6 million in guarantees. With two years left on his old deal, the extension will keep Moore in Chicago for the next six seasons.

That means Moore will be with quarterback Caleb Williams for the duration of his rookie deal — including the fifth-year option. It also means the Bears offense, at long last, has some stability.

"If you look at our team, I'm six years, [first-round pick] Rome [Odunze] is five, Caleb is four, well five. Well, with the quarterbacks these days, it could be three and he gets a new deal, who knows?" Moore said with a smile. "We got Cole [Kmet] for four. Everybody is here for the long haul on the offensive side, so that's pretty secure for me."

Oh, and Moore is also trying to get wide receiver Keenan Allen extended, too — just for good measure.

"I was like, 'Man, listen, what's your number? Let's get it done.' And I mean, I'm going to leave his number out of it. But I think we can get it done," Moore said.

You've heard of a player-coach. It sounds like Moore is a GM-coach.

The intentionality behind the roster construction by Chicago's actual general manager is evident. Ryan Poles said back in March that the Bears would be "intentional with the order we do the negotiations." Locking up the offensive core seemed to be his first order of business. Keeping a veteran (and adaptable) WR1 was the first part of that.

In Poles' mind, this is about sustaining success, not just capturing lightning in a bottle. That starts with a foundation that doesn't happen overnight. It's taken three years to get the team to look like this. It's taken three years to bring offense to the notoriously defensive franchise. It's taken three years to build a complete team.

How dynamic will the Bears offense be this season?

That's not something a rookie quarterback has ever had in this city. Think of the turmoil both Justin Fields and Mitch Trubisky came into. They both represented efforts by regimes to save their jobs. They were thrown into a fire and expected to rise from the ashes — and take the team with them.

That's a lot to put on a 20-to-22-year-old kid.

By contrast, Poles has given Williams the best chance he possibly could have to succeed in his first season. And coming from the Kansas City Chiefs organization, Poles knows a thing or two about what helps a quarterback be successful.

Now, Poles can't give Williams a redshirt year, like the Chiefs did with Patrick Mahomes, but the GM can give Williams stability and continuity.

More than his skill players, Williams also has continuity on the offensive line in front of him. All but Williams' center will be a player returning to the same position, provided right guard Nate Davis can get healthy and play consistently this season. Even then, Williams will have a veteran at center, whether it's Ryan Bates or Coleman Shelton.

More than the offense, Williams will also have an experienced defense that has now played multiple seasons together in the same scheme. The benefits of that have been evident in the early days of camp. It's a defense that finished with the best interception rate in the league last season. If that keeps up, it should mean more chances for Williams and his offense. At the very least, it will give Williams more reps.

This has culminated in perhaps the best situation a quarterback taken first overall has ever come into. The Bears didn't warrant that draft position — it was achieved by a good bit of maneuvering the year prior, too. That matters because we saw the Bears' defense turn a corner with the arrival of Montez Sweat at the trade deadline last season.

Chicago is hoping Williams is that missing piece for the offense.

There's a better chance of that if the pieces around him stay the same, and Poles is well on his way to making sure that's the case.

Way back in 2022, when Poles was hired, he talked about breaking cycles. Signing Moore to a contract extension — the richest ever awarded to a Bears wide receiver — is just the latest example of how Poles is doing that.

Carmen Vitali covers the NFC North for FOX Sports. Carmen had previous stops with The Draft Network and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. She spent six seasons with the Bucs, including 2020, which added the title of Super Bowl Champion (and boat-parade participant) to her résumé. You can follow Carmen on Twitter at @CarmieV.

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