Wide receiver DJ Moore spoke for the first time since officially becoming a member of the Chicago Bears Wednesday. His excitement about joining forces with QB Justin Fields and the Bears' ascending roster was obvious.
"It's going to be real special," Moore told ChicagoBears.com. "I'm glad to be a part of the groundwork that's being laid. And to just build that foundation of winning, it's going to be something special."
One of the Bears' biggest offseason priorities was at wide receiver, but with the 2023 free agent and NFL draft classes being somewhat underwhelming, it appeared the onus would fall on Chase Claypool to emerge as a legitimate WR1 next season.
General manager Ryan Poles had different plans. He leveraged the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft in a trade with the Carolina Panthers to land DJ Moore and a bounty of high NFL draft selections.
This is gonna be fun 😏 pic.twitter.com/06BY5l6TOa
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) March 15, 2023
"It makes me feel special," Moore said of the trade. "When a team does that—they just want one specific player—that means a lot. It hit home that I'm really welcome here."
Moore, 25, has appeared in 80 games over his five-year career. He's totaled 364 catches for 5,201 yards and 21 touchdowns. He entered the NFL as a first-round pick (No. 24 overall) of the 2018 NFL Draft.
Now, as the Chicago Bears No. 1 wideout, DJ Moore will catapult into superstardom.
"I'm excited to add a guy like DJ to our offense," Fields said. "He's proven he can be an explosive playmaker in this league, and I look forward to getting to work with him and the rest of our receivers so we can take the next step as an offense."