CHICAGO — The Chicago Bears made it clear they wanted to use the number one overall pick as a trade chip to acquire assets to build around 23-year-old quarterback Justin Fields, and that is exactly what they did.
Chicago sent the top pick to Carolina for a haul that included four draft picks, including picks nine and 61 this year, as well as star wide receiver DJ Moore.
This allows the Bears to still acquire a top asset with the ninth pick, while adding future assets and of course bringing an elite wide receiver into the mix for Fields.
Locked on Bears host Lorin Cox joined Kevin Oestreicher on the Locked on NFL podcast to discuss the deal - saying he believes the addition of Moore takes this from a good trade to a great one for GM Ryan Poles.
"DJ Moore offers a number one receiver for the Bears in a time when they're not going to be able to get one in free agency," Cox said. "There are certainly options in the NFL draft, but this is a plug and play wide receiver who is 25 and on a very affordable contract...it doesn't get much better than that for Bears fans."
Moore hauled in 63 receptions for 888 yards and seven touchdowns for the Panthers in 2022. While the touchdowns were a career-high, the total receptions and receiving yards were his lowest since he was a rookie in 2018.
Still, this is a huge addition for the Bears - who were led by Darnell Mooney's 493 receiving yards last year, even though he missed the final five games of the regular season.
Moore will join Mooney, Chase Claypool, Velus Jones and Equanimeous St. Brown in Chicago's wide receiver room, while the team could look to make another addition with one of their early round picks.
Once Chicago made the decision to commit to Fields it was all about how they would build around him, and nabbing a player like Moore while keeping a top 10 pick and adding another in the second round will make this team even more dangerous in a wide open NFC North in 2023.