💥 BREAKING NEWS: One Old Friendship Could Decide DJ Moore’s Fate — and Quietly Reshape the Bears’ Offseason ⚡.DH

The Chicago Bears didn’t slam the door when Ian Cunningham asked to leave. In fact, they did the opposite.

Even knowing they wouldn’t receive a compensatory draft pick, general manager Ryan Poles allowed his longtime colleague to take a career leap with the Atlanta Falcons. It was a professional courtesy — one rooted more in trust than leverage.

Now, months later, that decision may be circling back with consequences far bigger than anyone expected.

The Bears have a salary cap issue. Not a crisis — but a pressure point. And sitting at the center of it is wide receiver DJ Moore.

Moore isn’t underperforming in the traditional sense. He isn’t disgruntled. He hasn’t disappeared. But in a Bears offense that has quietly reoriented itself toward younger, cheaper, and more flexible weapons, his contract looms larger than his role.

That’s where Cunningham re-enters the picture.

Atlanta suddenly makes an uncomfortable amount of sense as a trade partner. With Darnell Mooney likely headed out and new head coach Kevin Stefanski reshaping the offense, the Falcons are thin behind Drake London. They need reliability.

They need experience. And they need someone whose personality and work habits won’t disrupt a locker room in transition.

Cunningham knows DJ Moore better than most executives ever will.

He’s seen him at his best. He understands what Moore is — and what he isn’t. That familiarity matters in trade talks where uncertainty often kills momentum before it starts.

From Chicago’s side, the math is difficult to ignore. Trading Moore before June 1 frees up $16.5 million in cap space. Waiting until after that date raises the savings to $24.5 million — but with risk attached. His 2027 salary becomes fully guaranteed early in the league year, shrinking the window for flexibility.

Time, in this case, is not neutral.

What complicates the conversation is that Moore still produces. Fifty catches. Nearly 700 yards. Six receiving touchdowns. Add in rushing usage, and he would have ranked near the top of Atlanta’s receiver room statistically. This isn’t a salary dump — it’s a reallocation.

And Chicago has already made its priorities clear.

Rome Odunze is the future. Luther Burden III is part of the plan. Colston Loveland adds a different dimension entirely. Keeping Moore doesn’t strengthen that trio — it bottlenecks it. At some point, asset management becomes more important than sentiment.

That’s where this situation feels less like a football decision and more like a timing test.

Cunningham doesn’t have final say in Atlanta — that rests with team president Matt Ryan. But Ryan is also closely connected to Poles. The lines of communication are open. The familiarity is mutual. And the incentives align just enough to make this feel less theoretical than most trade rumors.

No one is accusing Moore of being expendable. But in a league defined by windows and margins, “valuable” and “necessary” aren’t always the same thing.

The Bears didn’t lose Ian Cunningham for nothing. They lost him without compensation — on paper. But relationships don’t show up on cap sheets. And sometimes, the most important move of an offseason isn’t a signing or a draft pick.

It’s a phone call that only two people are positioned to make.

The table is set. The window is narrow. And DJ Moore’s future may hinge less on performance than on timing — and whether old allies are ready to do each other one more favor.