On Tuesday, the Bears announced they signed No. 1 wide receiver DJ Moore to a franchise-record contract extension worth $110 million over four years, with $82.6 million guaranteed, NBC Sports Chicago's Josh Schrock confirmed.
The catch? His contract doesn't affect their cap space in 2024.
As it stands, the Bears own roughly $11.5 million in cap space. They represent the 22nd most cap space in the NFL. That's not the Earth-shattering nine-figure amount of cap space they owned last offseason. But for a team on the brink of contention, it's a strong number.
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The reason Moore's contract doesn't affect this season is because he's still playing through the final two seasons of the three-year extension the Panthers granted him before trading him to the Bears. Moore's cap hit this season stands at roughly $16 million --- the fourth-largest cap hit on the team behind Montez Sweat, Keenan Allen and Tremaine Edmunds.
When Moore's contract extension goes into effect in 2026, his cap hit will be closer to $27.5 million --- the average annual value of his new extension. For now, the Bears can enjoy the luxury of paying non-quarterback players while Caleb Williams plays through the first four years of his cheap, rookie deal.
With Moore still playing under his Panthers contract, the Bears have a little bit of freedom to continue building out their roster should they please. The main gap left in their roster is an edge rusher opposite Montez Sweat.
But GM Ryan Poles told the media he's comfortable where the roster stands.
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"In the front office, it's our job to look at every option that's out there to improve our football team," Poles said on July 19. "We feel really comfortable with the guys we have on our roster now, and I'm excited, we're both excited, to see [defensive line coach Travis Smith] and [defensive coordinator Eric Washington] really put their hands on those guys and develop them as we go through the beginning of training camp. But we will always have our eyes on the list of players that we could potentially bring in."
As far as continuing to build out and craft the long-term roster, Moore, after signing his extension, is keen on finding a way to keep Keenan Allen in Chicago.
"I was like, man, listen. What’s your number? Let’s get it done," Moore said Wednesday about Allen. "And I mean, I’m going to leave his number out of it. But I think we can get it done."