NFL Critic Slams Bills for Trade With Bears to Acquire WR DJ Moore – Sports Illustrated

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There were many across the NFL world who sounded off about the Buffalo Bills’ trade with the Chicago Bears to acquire wide receiver DJ Moore.
NFL analyst Bill Barnwell did so recently, crushing the Bills’ front office for what he believed was their worst move of the offseason, one that reeked of “desperation.”
“It's clear that the Bills were frustrated by their wide receivers in 2025,” wrote Barnwell in an article for ESPN. “Under that lens, making a significant move for a receiver made sense. I'm just not sure this was the right one.”
Barnwell went on to explain how Moore may have been a “salary dump” for the Bears, who instead received a second-round pick in exchange for the 29-year-old.
“That was already a curious choice by [general manager/president of football operations Brandon Beane],” he added. “Even more inexplicably, the Bills ate all of the salary that was already owed to Moore and then guaranteed their new wideout $13.5 million in 2028, committing money three years down the line to a player who had no leverage as part of this trade.”
So while some have been fond of the trade for a player who will instantly become Buffalo’s No. 1 wide receiver, others, like Barnwell, have ripped Beane and his staff for a deal that may have mortgaged the team’s future.
Buffalo is expected to be $33 million over the salary cap in 2027, according to Spotrac, with Moore’s cap hit of $28.9 million set to be the second-highest on the team, behind only quarterback Josh Allen’s massive $56.1 million cap hit.
That’s a large portion of the salary cap to commit to a player who is about to turn 30 years old, an age at which wide receivers typically see a decline in their production, which Moore already has. In 2025, Moore recorded nearly 300 fewer receiving yards than he did the year before, while his total receptions dropped by nearly 50%.
There were rumors he didn’t fit in with Bears head coach Ben Johnson or Chicago QB Caleb Williams. Still, the drop-off was significant, and he will have to prove early during his time in Buffalo that he is capable of a rebound. Those numbers won’t be good enough in Moore's first season with the Bills, where he will be expected by fans to close in on a 1,000-yard campaign.
There’s still plenty of time for Moore to disprove the doubters, but there are a lot of factors he must overcome to prove that the Bills’ trade for him was a success.
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Alex Brasky is editor of Bills Digest and host of the Buffalo Pregame podcast. He has been on the Bills beat the past six seasons and now joins ON SI to expand his coverage of Buffalo’s favorite football team.
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