The Chicago Bears want more.
After a fairytale season in which they won the NFC North and almost beat the loaded Los Angeles Rams to reach the NFC Championship Game, Ben Johnson and his young Bears team don’t just want to return to where they were; they want to go further.
On Thursday, they traded away DJ Moore to the Buffalo Bills following an up-and-down final season in Chicago. The lasting memory of the top wide receiver will be in that Rams game, where he was caught jogging on a route that could have sent the Bears to Seattle for the NFC title game.
Instead, Moore didn’t finish his route, and the Rams intercepted Caleb Williams. They promptly marched down the field and eliminated the Bears from the playoffs.
With Moore gone, a lot of the responsibility will fall on the shoulders of Rome Odunze, Luther Burden, and the sophomore tight end Colston Loveland when it comes to catching balls from Williams in 2026.
But there is an opportunity for the Bears to grab another dynamic wide receiver with their late first-round pick.
It’s one of the deepest drafts for wideouts in a decade, and there are a slew of receivers with the talent and pedigree to be stars in the NFL for a long time, depending on whether they can grow into their potential.
National champion Elijah Sarratt of the Indiana Hoosiers ended his college season looking like he’d go in the second round, but recently been moving up on pundit mock drafts as a mid-to-late first-rounder.
A partnership between Saratt and Odunze could give the Bears two of the strongest, biggest wide receivers if they can both reach their ceiling. In a perfect world, Williams could use both on the sidelines, creating havoc for the secondary, with their ability to get the ball into their hands unmatched in college over the past few years.
Although the Bears are expected to focus on their own secondary this April with the Draft, don’t be surprised if Saratt is on their radar following the departure of Moore.
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