Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Ryan Poles keeps door open to possibly moving DJ Moore | Take The North

Episode Date: February 26, 2026

From 'Take The North' (subscribe here): Dan Wiederer and Mark Grote discuss the possibility of the Bears trading receiver DJ Moore this offseason. How did general manager Ryan Poles react to questions about Moore? To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Von Miller, when nothing is off limits and every down counts. New episodes every Wednesday. Listen and follow free range with me, Von Miller, wherever you get your podcast. One of the names that continues to pop up, and even though I think the name DJ Moore had simmered just a little bit, things had quieted. He spoke at the Super Bowl, and I know that sort of people felt a little happy to hear from him and saying that he is going to be back. But Dan, there is certainly no guarantee that DJ Moore will be with the Bears next year.

He is under contract with the team through 2029 of the four-year $110 million extension. He signed in July of 2024, $28.5 million cap hits. He was second on the team in receiving this year. We know some of the massive catches that he had this year. But then, what was before we hear from Ryan Poles, what was kind of your vibe in terms of the DJ Moore story and whether or not he'll be a bear next year. Yeah, well, the way I phrased it for my athletic story today was that, you know, the DJ Moore's exit from Chicago is not imminent,

but it's not off the table either, right? And so this factors into everything that we just talked about. It circles even into Tremaine Admins where the bears know they need to do something. And then there's all these moving parts in the machine that they have to figure out, how does this move affect this move, affect this move, right? And so it's like you have to kind of really understand. how all these things are linked together, but you certainly didn't get the impression today from either Ryan Poles or Ben Johnson that it was off the table that DJ could be moved.

At the same time, they were very glowing with their praise of who DJ is, complimenting him for being durable, for being available, for being such a tough guy, for being intelligent, for being versatile, things that they value DJ has. But now you're at this place in your journey where you're trying to set yourself up for the biggest, the big success, and you have to consider a lot of things. and you have to take a lot of phone calls and you have to figure out if we make this move. You know, I thought it was interesting today in a couple different scenarios where Ryan Poles talked about cost of replacement, right? Like you could get rid of DJ, but you have to replace them.

And so what does it take to replace them, you know, as far as draft capital or if you're going to go out and sign somebody else is there's a lot that plays into this. I do think it's interesting contractually when you talk to people around the league. You obviously mentioned DJ's cap hit for 2026. It's north of $28 million. It's my understanding in mid-March, you're going to be. on the hook again for, I think, an additional 13 plus for next year. And so you're talking about, you know, a $40 million commitment if you wanted to trade for DJ more. And it's like two years, right? So, like, those suitors have to kind of come to your doorstep and say, hey, we're willing

to give up a pick. This is where we're willing to give it up. And we're also willing to take on this contract. And so it's going to be fascinating to me because I think the profile on DJ around the league is very positive. I think a lot of people feel really strongly about who he's been in this league, particularly playing with a lot of different quarterbacks and remaining pretty productive. And yet you just have to figure out, does this work for our team at this stage of our championship pursuit? And so the bears are a part of that equation as well of figuring out all that calculus. The replacement part is really important too, because you can definitely look at the bear's group of receivers. And I include the tight ends, obviously, in the general receivers world.

like I mean he was the second most productive receiver this year. Colston Loveland was number one. But it's not a as much of a rising stars, I think Colston Loveland is. I mean, I don't think there's a guarantee that if you had all those guys coming back next year, I wouldn't bet against DJ Moore being the number one receiver out of that crew. Sure.

Even with Luther Burden and Roma Dunes at a couple of guys. Like they're on the come. Like these guys are on the rise, but there is still. nobody who is as established and quite frankly NFL ready still than DJ more in that receiver group that the Bears have. So I don't know who it is right now. When they brought Drew Rosenhaus upstairs at House Hall in the summer of 2024 and gave DJ the big extension, there was no question in that moment that he was the undeniable number one

pass catcher for the Chicago Bears. Now you name Adunze and Burden and you had Loveland to that mix and you understand that there's only one football and that, you know, you've got to figure this out with all these pieces. And I thought it was interesting to hear Ryan polls on Tuesday, kind of give his interpretation for why DJ had career lows in catches and receiving yards this season and said, look, like first part of the year, it's all new. It's a new system with Ben.

He's learning the concepts. He's learning where his fit is with everything. And then the quarterback and the offense has to spit the ball around to a lot of different places. And so the production really fell off. And so you're not getting the return on investment that you made when he was your undeniable number one. But you've still got to figure out what he's,

his value is to the current team. And so, like, that's where I think it gets a little more complex than obviously social media arguments would make it seem. And so the bears have to, they got to figure all this out because we understand. And we can probably get into this in a minute or two. There's a tone set here by Ben Johnson and echoed by Ryan Poles that 2025 wasn't good enough. And it's the right tone to set.

And so in order to get better, you have to get better in very calculated ways while also understanding, as Ryan has pointed out a number of times, you've got new constraints. You're picking lower in the draft. Your salary cap health is not, you know, where it was in terms of having the flexibility. And so this is, it gets very complex, very quickly. And that's where the bears are right in the middle of right now. My day kicks off with the refreshing Celsius energy drink. Then straight to the gym. Pre-K pickup, back home to meal prep. Time for my fire station shift. One more Celsius, got to keep the lights on. When the three alarm hits, I'm ready. Celsius. Live, fit, go. Grab a cold, refreshing Celsius at your local retailer or locate now at Celsius.com.

Life can feel overwhelming, but on my podcast, From the Heart with Rachel Brathen, we're in it together. Every Friday brings you a new story. Listen to From the Heart with Rachel Brathen wherever you get your podcasts. Let's listen to what Ryan Poles did have to say about DJ more. Clarify a DJ. Is he one of the players you feel good about being here in 2026 or do you have to entertain some different conversations just because of his contract. Anders Heller, Cap. Yeah, I got to have conversations and kind of see what, like I said, the best combination of players we can bring in.

We want him here. We think highly of him. He's a great teammate. He's been productive pretty consistently over the last couple of years that he's been here. So I have nothing but great things to say about him. But this is the time now where we have to look at all the different scenarios to see what can allow us to put the best team out there. And I've talked about this before.

It's just, you know, there's relationships there. There's a lot there that make it really difficult. But he's a guy we want here, but we have to look at all different scenarios. We love him. He's really, he's the best. What? Yeah. Hey, business is business.

I think both things can be true. And I thought that was a pretty comprehensive way of Ryan of assessing the entirety of the situation. By the way, for our YouTube audience, watching this on YouTube, you're going to get some Easter eggs here. And that was Sean Payton, coach of the Denver Broncos that just walked by a minute ago, couldn't drag him into, you know, really pop in on the pod. But this is why I like setting up in places like this. You never know who's going to pass behind you. Maybe Sean Peyton wants DJ more in Denver.

Maybe we could have asked him. See if they could use that for the Broncos offense. Sit him down next time. You know, he's one of ours. He's a, he's a, he's in Illinois. That's right. Naperville Central, yeah. That's right. Yeah, he's a suburban guy played for the bears. Come on, man. He was a replacement bear, right? We should have access to him immediately. But yeah, that's the exact right tone. I don't know if there is active shopping going on for DJ more. And I think Ryan Poles knows more than he's letting on when he says, we've got to see what's right and who wants what and all that kind of stuff. Those conversations have been had. So I think not that there's been an exact decision made. but there's got to be some calls being made and taken right now in DJ Moore is the way I feel about it. With so many things in the Bears orbit right now, things are fluid.

And it is more than appropriate to just stamp the stay tuned tag on a lot of these sagas because I feel like a lot of things are fluid. And I think this week is going to help the bears at large crystallize all the different questions they have about potential moves they could make and other ones they might consider. And then all of a sudden you put them all in a bucket and you figure out how to shake them loose. And I think by the end of this week, they'll have a little bit better understanding of what's possible for them and what they would prefer to do. Yeah. And what's really amazing is that, and I know you wanted to get into a little bit about, you know, Ben Johnson.

This is a new year, clean slate, all of that stuff. But boy, do they ever have a base on offense? They really do. And I know we've got so many questions defensively. But just to, Dan, just to be able to say, I guess two things. They have an offensive line. They have a really good foundation of their offensive line. and then I know left tackle.

We'll talk about that. And they have the quarterback. They have the receivers and they have the running back. So really, I think some of Ben Johnson's, you know, this isn't the same team stuff. Like everything's different. It's true. But man, there's a lot of really good stuff coming back on the offensive side of the ball

that they don't have to change. Yeah. And it's a great starting point. It really is. And you feel Ben's sort of confidence in that, right? and he understands how far his relationship with Caleb has come, and he understands what that allows them to open the doors to, you know, as they get going again in the spring

and push towards training camp and the fall. So you got to feel good. You got to feel really good about the starting pieces and then what that can unlock as you go forward. Looking for something smart, soulful, and full of heart. I'm Jen Hatmaker, host of For the Love, the podcast where we talk about what really matters, love and family, faith and purpose. Every week, I'm joined by incredible guests for honest

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