How stardom, security and Caleb Williams sold DJ Moore on his $110 million extension with the Chicago Bears

LAKE FOREST, Ill. - DJ Moore was coming down his driveway when everything changed.

The then-Panthers receiver got the phone call in March 2023. He was being traded to Chicago as part of the deal that brought Carolina the No. 1 overall pick.

There were new beginnings to be had, sure. 

That didn't temper Moore's immediate, knee-jerk reaction. 

"When I first got into the car, I was like "'aw, sh*t,'" Moore said. "We had just moved into a house, so it was like, dang, we got traded."

Uprooting his life and moving to Chicago was one of the centerpieces of the trade that remade the Bears. 

Not only did it give the Bears a primary option in the passing game, but it eventually gave Moore his quarterback and it convinced him to be one of the highest paid receivers in the NFL.

Moore signed a four-year, $110 million contract extension on Tuesday. This contract gives him $82.6 million in guaranteed money and secures his future with the franchise for the next six seasons.

It's a contract that pays him like a top-10 receiver in the NFL, something that he was last season.

Moore was sixth in the NFL with 1,364 receiving yards in 2023, and scored eight touchdowns playing with Justin Fields and Tyson Bagent as his starting quarterbacks.

Moore was upfront about needing a new deal, too, after keeping his eye on the receiver market that exploded this past offseason.

"I felt like I outplayed that one, due to the fact that the money that was for this year was kind of low," Moore said. "Just the play that I had last year, and it proved that I'm worthy of 20, well, 15-plus that was on the table at the time."

There was another offer was on the table first two days ago. Moore's team, led by his agent Drew Rosenhaus, didn't respond. Rosenhaus came to practice on Tuesday, and like "magic" the deal materialized. 

"It just happened like that, like magic," Moore said. "Kind of like how we did the deal with the Panthers and took a few hours and we were always on the same boat with something and I approved it."

It wasn't just his play or the receiver market. Through the first two weeks of training camp practices, Moore was sold on the future of the Bears. That future, namely, being No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams who came to the Bears with the first overall pick the Bears received in the same trade that brought Moore to Chicago.

"Yes, that's part of it," Moore said. "I think Caleb is going to be a superstar and I want to be part of that."

The connection between Moore and Williams already started when the two had a pre-draft workout. Through the rest of the offseason until now, Moore had seen enough.

"He takes everything in one ear and it just stays there," Moore said. "Then he goes out there and carves him up like probably the next two plays, and it is just amazing to watch."

It's hard to blame him. The list of quarterbacks that Moore played with in Carolina is comparable to the list of receivers the Bears have had throughout the past two decades.

Moore's list has eight different quarterbacks in his five years in Carolina, including Sam Darnold, PJ Walker, Cam Newton, Teddy Bridgewater, Kyle Allen and Will Grier.

The Bears' revolving list of receivers since 2004 includes Josh Bellamy, David Terrell, Bobby Wade, Cameron Meredith, Deonte Thompson, Marquess Wilson. Dontrelle Inman, Markus Wheaton, Kendall Wright, Byron Pringle and Chase Claypool.

It was so bad, former Bears receiver Mushin Muhammad – who also came to Chicago from Carolina – described Chicago as "where receivers go to die."

"I heard that coming here," Moore said. "I wasn't paying no mind. I was like, shoot, I'm still young. Maybe when they was all older they was dying off."

Moore was the beginning of a charge that single handedly changed that perception in the league.

In 2024, the Bears will have Moore, No. 9 overall pick Rome Odunze and All-Pro Keenan Allen headlining the receiver room. It's perhaps the best receiver room in franchise history.

Now, Moore headlines the future of Chicago's offense. The Bears have Moore for six years, Rome Odunze for five years and tight end Cole Kmet for four years.

It could include Allen, too. Moore has been trying to get the veteran extended, something Allen says he thinks could happen.

"I did that yesterday," Moore said. "I was like, 'man, listen, what's your number? Let's get it done.'"

It's that mindset which also endears Moore to a Bears locker room which thoroughly celebrated the extension.

"If you ask anybody, that was probably the turntest locker room I ever been a part of," Moore said. "It was going berserk when everybody got back to they phone and seen what happened. So they was wondering why I left walkthroughs last night and they figured it out as soon as they got back. It's pretty cool."

Moore's extension establishes how confident the Bears are in their future. They want one of the faces of their offense to stick with the offense for years to come.

Although, Moore downplays the idea that he's a face of the franchise, even with a smile that was as wide as it could be when he started his press conference.

"We got Caleb now," Moore said. "Maybe he could take that on."

With Moore signing his extension with the Bears, no longer is Chicago the place "where receivers go to die."

Chicago is where a budding offense will now stick together for the better part of the next decade. Moore learned that season.

"When the season was progressing the way it was, I was just like, yeah, we could throw that out the window now," Moore said.

Now, Moore will be the player Bears fans can look to in the biggest moments for perhaps the next six years. They can also look to him as one of the most likable personalities on the roster.

Case in point: Moore doesn't have a luxury purchase in mind. He did celebrate with a Popeyes' eight-piece chicken meal with his family.

The receiver won't call himself a Chicagoan just yet – there's still more he needs to do in the city – but it won't stop him from talking about how much Chicago has helped uplift his career.

"Getting traded here probably was one of the best things," Moore said. "I had one of the best years that I ever had, and then I got a new deal. I made history with the Bears, so I'm happy."

Making history and creating the turnest locker room leaves a lot to be desired for the imagination. What did it look like specifically?

"Champagne showers," Moore said. "I'm gonna walk off on that one."