Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams has finally made his thoughts known about his team’s decision to trade wide receiver DJ Moore to the Buffalo Bills.
Williams spoke with reporters on Thursday, April 20, for the first time since the Bears’ 2025 season ended with a divisional-round loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the playoffs and answered several questions about the team’s biggest moves of the 2026 offseason.
The biggest, of course, was the Moore trade. The Bears dealt Moore — who had 3,012 receiving yards and 20 touchdown catches in three seasons in Chicago — to the Bills along with a 2027 fifth-round pick in exchange for their 2026 second-rounder (No. 60). The move also cleared about $16.5 million in salary-cap space for the Bears in 2026.
On the business side, Williams said he understands these types of moves are out of his control, but he made no secret that he will “miss the guy” — both on and off the field.
“DJ, he’s a pro. He’s been that since he’s been in the league,” Williams said Monday. “On the football side of it, obviously, you’re going to miss him out there making plays for you — for me and for the team. But on the other side of the football side, you understand there is a business side to it, and you’ve got to roll with the punches. I don’t have the choice to make those types of choices, and so, from there, you understand it.”
Caleb Williams ‘Excited’ for DJ Moore’s Bills Career
Williams also continued to elaborate on the personal side of losing a player like Moore, who served as his No. 1 veteran wide receiver in each of his first two years in the NFL.
Williams and Moore made several memorable plays together throughout the 2025 NFL season, the most notable of which was Williams’ 46-yard touchdown pass to Moore in overtime that sealed their Week 16 victory over the Green Bay Packers. They also linked up again for the go-ahead touchdown in their wild-card playoff victory over the Packers.
Beyond their on-field connection, though, Williams will miss the personal relationship that he developed with Moore over his first two seasons as a pro, even though he said that he is “excited” to see what Moore does in Buffalo with Josh Allen and the Bills.
“On my side of it, on the personal side, you miss the guy,” Williams continued Monday. “I’ve been around him for two years. We’d go over to his house to play cards, we’d eat food, we’d watch games. The guys come over to my house and all these different things. You build up a relationship on a personal level. It sucks that he has to go, but I think we do one of the best jobs in the NFL.
“If somebody has to go or if we’re trading somebody, or anything like that, we typically try to send them to a really good spot. I think they did a good job sending him somewhere like that. They have a good quarterback and a good coach and all that over there. I’m excited for him and the rest of his career to see what he does.”
DJ Moore Felt His Time in Chicago ‘Ran Its Course’
The business end of trading Moore made sense for the Bears. He was a well-liked and talented player, but his production no longer equated to his $110 million contract. The Bears also had a young core of pass-catchers in Rome Odunze, Luther Burden III and Colston Loveland in position to take the reins as the primary playmaker of the offense.
Moore also agreed after the trade that his time in Chicago “ran its course,” even though he was glad to experience the first winning season of his eight-year NFL career in 2025.
“Last year was my first winning season, so I got a taste of what everybody has been getting a taste of here in Buffalo,” Moore told reporters in March. “It was good. It was fun. The atmosphere was amazing. …I look forward to getting back there with the Bills and going further.”
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