The Bears’ decision to move on from DJ Moore is looking sharper by the day, especially after a new NFL spending ranking underlined just how messy things can get when teams pay for star power too early.
BetMGM recently stacked up the league’s highest-paid running back, receiver and tight end trios, and the top five featured the Atlanta Falcons, Minnesota Vikings, Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens and New Orleans Saints. That list says plenty on its own.
Of those five, only the Ravens are expected to be real playoff threats. The other four either look headed for a fight over draft position or, at best, the kind of fringe wild-card race that never quite turns into something bigger.
There’s no single reason those teams are in that spot, but the pattern is hard to miss: they committed big money to playmakers before the rest of the roster and coaching infrastructure were ready to support a true contention window.
Chicago took a different route. Instead of clinging to Moore after a down year, the Bears reset their timeline and leaned into youth at the position.
Rome Odunze, Luther Burden and Colston Loveland are all on rookie deals, and all three still have years of team control ahead of them. That gives Chicago room to sort out who actually deserves the next big payday instead of locking itself into expensive decisions too early.
The advantage is obvious. The Bears can spend the next two years evaluating the roster and deciding exactly where the money needs to go. It’s the kind of setup that leaves room for a Super Bowl push now while preserving future cap flexibility to keep the core intact around Caleb Williams and head coach Ben Johnson.
Around the league, the cautionary tales are easy to find. Atlanta has one of the league’s best running backs in Bijan Robinson and elite pass catchers, yet the franchise hasn’t made the playoffs since 2017 and isn’t expected to change that next season. Dallas, meanwhile, chose to pay Dak Prescott and build around talented playmakers, but still hasn’t found a way to round out the roster enough to contend.
The bigger picture is that Chicago appears to have learned from that kind of mistake. By stepping back from Moore and resetting the clock, the Bears have given themselves the best chance to build a long runway of contention instead of getting trapped by the wrong timeline.
In Other News...
Bears Suddenly Face A Luther Burden Concern They Can't Ignore
Luther Burdens training camp work came to an abrupt stop after he left Bears practice early Sunday, landing awkwardly in a drill and showing discomfort in his left leg. He was able to walk off the field under his own power, but the scene was enough to raise eyebrows around a roster that has been waiting to see how quickly the rookie can settle in and handle the physical side of camp.
No formal diagnosis has been released, and the Bears had not issued an update as of Sunday morning. Physical therapist Jeff Mueller reviewed video of the play and offered a cautiously upbeat read on Burdens knee, even as the footage left open a few different possibilities, which is exactly the kind of uncertainty Chicago cant afford to let linger for long in camp. [Read more 🡒]
Bears Are Betting Caleb Williams' Growth On One Key Decision
The Bears spent part of their offseason making a familiar kind of bet: keeping continuity around Caleb Williams while changing the job description for one of the men already in the building. Press Taylor is moving up from passing game coordinator to help steer the offense, a promotion that comes after Declan Doyle left for the Ravens and leaves Chicago leaning into a coach it already knows well. Taylor has long been tied to quarterback development, with stops alongside Doug Pederson in Philadelphia and Jacksonville giving him a resume the Bears clearly value.
For Williams, the move adds another layer to a pivotal stretch of his early career. Taylor has had a hand in the development of Carson Wentz, Jalen Hurts, Trevor Lawrence and Williams himself, and Chicago is banking on that background to help its young quarterback take another step. The new arrangement suggests the Bears believe familiarity and coaching continuity can matter as much as any outside addition, even if the real payoff will only be known once the offense starts putting it to the test. [Read more 🡒]
Rome Odunze Is Giving Bears Fans A Reason To Believe Again
Rome Odunze is back on the field at Bears training camp, and for Chicago that alone is enough to reset some of the conversation around its passing game. After a foot injury cut short his 2025 season, the receiver has reportedly looked sharp early in 2026, and the Bears helped fuel the optimism by sharing a camp highlight on social media that suggested he is moving well and looking like himself again.
For a team trying to build a more dangerous receiving group, Odunze matters because his ceiling changes what the offense can ask of Caleb Williams and the rest of the passing attack. The expectation in Chicago is that he and Luther Burden III can form a real one-two punch, and if Odunze keeps stacking practices like this, the Bears will have a lot more reason to believe their receiver room is finally headed in the right direction. [Read more 🡒]