Dan Wiederer reflects on receiver DJ Moore's tenure with the Bears
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What led to the Bears trading DJ Moore to the Bills?
How gratifying is it when you win that battle and get the football thrown to you? What?
Does that please you? I mean, is that something you want to do?
It doesn't please me, but it's good to see. Good to hear him out there doing that. And that means he's doing great.
Oh, man. Now we won't have any more awkward moments between Dan Wiederer, Mark Grody and DJ Moore. That's the greatest hits album right there.
There's more than that, too. Well, I mean, there's a DJ Moore lifetime of interesting back and forths between myself and DJ or Weedzy and DJ. He's an interesting character. Dan and I talk a lot about him on and off the air. I don't even know if character is the right word. An interesting individual who was a good Chicago Bear.
He was a good Chicago Bear, and now he is set to be traded. We got the information not just from Adam Schefter, but the details from Tom Pellicero. The Bears will receive a 2026 second round pick. DJ Moore in a 2026 this year fifth round pick. Go to the bills. And that is the exchange. We bring in Dan Weterer, the partner of the Take the North podcast with Mark. He's a senior writer for for The Athletic covering the Bears on our hotline here on Rahimi Harrison-Grody. Dan, what is your initial reaction to this?
Yeah, man, it's been a busy week here for the Chicago Bears, and I had the sense coming out of the combine that their headlines in the short term were going to be more subtractions Then additions, we've had two big subtractions from the Bears' offense here in the last 48 hours. Eventually, they're going to start trying to fill those holes and try to figure out how to solidify a championship-contending roster. It felt like this was kind of the momentum that was building in terms of DJ's exit, and I think that the return that the Bears got back is...
How does DJ Moore's performance impact the Bears' future?
She should make them feel pretty encouraged because now they will have four picks in the top 90 to go make some hay in the draft.
Yeah, I love the idea of the Bears getting a second-round pick. The initial thought was a mid-round pick, so I was thinking it was going to be a third or a fourth, which I guess you could have lived with, but a second-round pick. Feels really good. It's interesting, Dan, because you and Kevin Fishbane, we had just been talking about your article where you guys had cited sources from personnel, people from the Combine, kind of going the good and the bad of DJ Moore, making some massive catches, but also it was not a productive year relative to what DJ Moore usually does, and the chemistry has always been just, I guess, spotty with Caleb Williams.
Yeah, it was going back to the week in London where DJ had kind of brought up the word bossy, if you remember that. And that was sort of the first sign that these guys weren't able to get on the exact same page as consistently as everyone would have liked them to. And so it just, for whatever reason, didn't click. You know, DJ's got a different kind of style as a player. Obviously, I think the Bears probably assessed the lack of click there in making the decision that they made here. And now, again, this is a move that is going to up the pressure on Roma Junze. This is a guy that you drafted in the top ten. Well, now you've got to become a top ten pick. In season three in the NFL, you've got to become the guy for this offense.
Colston Lovell will be part of that mix as well, obviously. Luther Burden as well. So you do have ways to offset the loss of DJ Moore. But it's really hard to subtract really good football players from your team And feel great about it. And so over the last couple days, the Bears have had to do that. And now, like I said, they've got six weeks here and obviously the next week with some very intense decisions ahead to try to figure out what routes they want to take to build this thing up.
Dan, given that this news happened within a couple days of the Drew Dahlman news, when you consider that part of it, how much do you think, if any, that had a factor in the Bears needing to move at the time their highest paid player?
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What led to the Bears trading DJ Moore to the Bills?
0:02–1:57
2
How does DJ Moore's performance impact the Bears' future?
1:57–4:47
3
What does DJ Moore's trade mean for the Bears' draft strategy?
4:47–7:20
4
What are the implications of DJ Moore's character on his legacy?
7:20–9:38
5
How will the Bears replace DJ Moore's contributions?
9:38–12:01
6
What are the Bears' immediate needs following the trade?
12:01–14:05
7
How does DJ Moore's past with the Bears shape perceptions?
14:05–15:27
8
What are the next steps for the Bears after this trade?
15:27–18:50
Speakers
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