Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles spoke for roughly 15 minutes at the podium during the NFL Scouting Combine on Tuesday and did not field a single question regarding the future of veteran wide receiver DJ Moore.

During the local media portion, the question was finally asked and Poles continued to have a similar stance on how he feels about Moore as a player and what he brings to the organization.

Ryan Poles wants DJ Moore to stay with the Bears amid offseason trade drama

“We want him here,” Poles said. “We thinking highly of him. He’s a great teammate and been productive consistently over the last couple of years that he’s been here. 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 that will allow us to put the best team out there. I’ve talked about this before, there’s relationships there that make it really really difficult. He’s a guy we want here but we have to look at all the scenarios.”

It’s clear that Poles still has strong feelings for Moore and his place on the team, and it’s a similar sentiment he and head coach Ben Johnson shared when asked about backup quarterback Tyson Bagent and his outside trade interest. But, with Moore, it’s a more complicated situation.

Moore is slated to have the highest cap hit on the team for 2026 despite coming off the worst statical season of his career. When asked about his lack of production after the season, Poles pointed to the way Moore battled through injuries and his leadership in the wide receiver room as valuable traits.

If the Bears want to keep Moore, the team would be wise to restructure his deal to lower the 2026 cap hit, at the expense of pushing the money down the road. It’s also worth noting that Poles mentioned on Tuesday he likes the philosophy of not “kicking the can down the road.”

Bears are going to have to make a tough decision with DJ Moore one way or another

Pushing the can down the road just doesn’t seem like the best option in this situation. Moore’s production has steadily decreased since arriving to Chicago and the Bears can’t afford to push his money back with quarterback Caleb Williams’ extension coming up next offseason.

“That comes into play as well,” Poles explained. “I think we’re getting closer and closer to clarity on that side of things, which helps us start to build those models to make sure that we’re doing the right thing for us moving forward and not putting ourselves in a situation where we got to make really tough or bad situations down the road that hurt us.”

It’s not just Moore, either, but lower his cap can save the team a lot of space this offseason. The Bears are currently still over the cap and will have to make some tough decisions to free up space. It’s still a business and the team can let personal feelings prevent moves that are best for the organization.

“We gotta make some decisions, if that’s cuts or that’s trades,” Poles said. “There’s real relationships of people that gave it up for the Chicago Bears to advance our organization and they may not be able to stay and that sucks to be honest with you. But, it’s what makes this league beautiful… and it’s the challenge of putting together the best puzzle that you can with different pieces. Really difficult, but that’s what we signed up for. You gotta make those tough decisions and they are business decisions, you gotta try and take your emotions out of it and do what’s best for the organization.”

Time will tell if the Bears make a business decision with Moore or continue making decisions based on personal feelings.

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