DJ Moore Sees ‘At Least’ Five Years in CHI, Considers Retirement with Bears
Despite uncertainty at quarterback entering 2024, DJ Moore has been a major booster of wide receiver Justin Fields since he moved to Chicago prior to the 2023 season. It seems Fields wants to remain a Bear for life.
According to ESPN’s Courtney Cronin, Moore stated, “I would like to do at least five years here and then, shoot, maybe retire here.” “That’s always the goal.”I believed that I would spend my entire life in Carolina. I don’t want to stay here any longer than the five years I spent there. That is something I’m excited about.
Fields was chosen by the Bears from Ohio State in the first round of the 2021 draft. Fields has started for Chicago for the past three seasons as their starting quarterback. However, the team has had underwhelming performances in each of those seasons, so this spring, the organization will have to decide. With the No. 1 overall choice in the 2024 draft, they will have the chance to select a new signal-caller.
With the way the 24-year-old performed in 2023, the Bears had to make a difficult choice. Though the team was unable to make it into the playoffs, he had the finest season of his young career, running for four touchdowns and 657 yards while completing 61.4 percent of his throws for 2,562 yards and 16 touchdowns against nine interceptions in 13 games.
But according to this week’s rumor from Dane Brugler of The Athletic, “teams believe” the Bears would deal Fields for a quarterback selected with the No. 1 overall pick. In Brugler’s mock draft, Chicago picks USC quarterback Caleb Williams.
Moore is willing to play with any quarterback, but with Fields at the controls, he had the finest season of his career. Moore was traded by the Carolina Panthers to the Bears prior to the 2023 season. In seventeen games, he grabbed eight touchdowns and 1,364 yards from 96 catches.
That being said, Moore’s desire for Fields to be active through 2024 is understandable. “With him being younger than most of the quarterbacks I’ve been with [Fields is 24], it made me revert back to learning the whole offense, so I could be on the same page with him and think the same things he was thinking,” Moore said on ESPN. I kind of benefited more from it.
“I think that’s why my numbers were so high with him, because we were on the same page and had to grow through the offense together.”
The Bears might choose to combine Moore with a wide receiver like Marvin Harrison Jr. from Ohio State if they decide to keep Fields, giving the quarterback two excellent ball catchers to deal with going ahead. Nothing seems certain at this stage, as there are still a few months till the draft.