DJ Moore Traded to Buffalo Bills: Josh Allen Gets WR1 And More Fantasy Football Fallout
Fantasy

DJ Moore Traded to Buffalo Bills: Josh Allen Gets WR1 And More Fantasy Football Fallout

Ian Hartitz breaks down the DJ Moore trade to Buffalo, focusing on the fantasy football implications for the Bills and the Bears in the 2026 NFL season.

And away we go: The Bears have traded WR DJ Moore and a 2026 fifth-round to the Bills in return for a second-round pick. The deal instantly gives the Bills the sort of proven No. 1-caliber WR they've been looking for, while Moore's departure from Chicago more clearly focuses the Bears offense's targets around young studs Colston Loveland, Rome Odunze and Luther Burden.

DJ Moore Traded to the Buffalo Bills and Fantasy Football Fallout

We'll start with the main character first: Moore turns 29 in April and has flashed the ability to be a high-end pass catcher at the professional level, most notably when he turned 136 targets into a 96-1,364-8 receiving line working alongside Justin Fields in 2023. Throw in the reality that Moore was largely forced to deal with one mediocre QB after another during his initial five seasons in Carolina, and it's easy to be encouraged by his upside catching passes from Josh Allen.

Of course, there's a reason why Bears fans aren't exactly devastated to see DJM go. It's a what have you done for me lately world after all, and the last two seasons haven't exactly featured Moore put his best foot forward both from a real-life and fantasy perspective.

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Moore’s Utilization With The Bills And His Rise In Fantasy Rankings

Good news for Moore: There should be less debate about his standing in the pecking order in Buffalo. Khalil Shakir is holding things down in the slot, but neither Josh Palmer nor Keon Coleman did enough in 2025 to solidify any sort of consistent role on the outside. TE Dalton Kincaid figures to be very involved as well; just realize it doesn't take an overly optimistic fantasy nerd to project Moore for triple-digit targets from one of the game's best QBs–and reuniting with Joe Brady (Panthers OC in 2020-2021) doesn't hurt either.

Overall fantasy rankings adjustments in Buffalo:

  • Moore enters the borderline WR2 conversation alongside players like Courtland Sutton, DK Metcalf and Christian Watson. We have at least one or two concerns for each, but there's also a good enough combination of proven talent and available opportunity to warrant a ~WR25 ranking.
  • Shakir goes from a borderline WR4 who nobody was too excited about drafting to a WR5-6 who nobody will REALLY be excited about drafting. Still, this could make Shakir a decent late-round value: His role as the primary slot receiver isn't going anywhere, and the man knows how to make the most out of his opportunities after the catch.
  • Palmer and Coleman now look more disposable than ever. Neither is anything close to a guarantee to be on the Bills roster for the 2026 season.

After Moore Trade: More Targets For Bears Pass Catchers

And now Da Bears: The move is certainly great news for the potential upside of Colston Loveland, Luther Burden and Rome Odunze. There's not much room for Loveland to move up in the fantasy ranks—he's already the consensus TE3 behind only Trey McBride and Brock Bowers—but the overall best-case upside ceiling is higher than ever.

The real allure comes down to Burden and Odunze. The former is getting the benefit of the doubt at the moment after putting forward one of the most efficient rookie seasons in recent memory. Seriously: Burden averaged 2.71 yards per route run in 2025—that's good for the highest mark of ANY rookie WR in the last decade, and trailed only Puka Nacua and Jaxon Smith-Njigba last season!

It's scary to think what Burden could be capable of doing with 120-plus targets in Ben Johnson's offense.

Similar optimism is warranted for Odunze, who looked like he was ready to break out in a major way to start the 2025 season before cooling off down the stretch. Still, a late-season foot injury hardly helped matters, and it'd make sense if a more condensed passing game brings out the best of the former No. 9 overall pick. Odunze is still just 23 years young.

Main Bears fantasy takeaways:

  • Loveland remains more entrenched than ever as fantasy's TE3
  • Burden is on a rocket ship up the ranks and is solidified as an upside WR2. He makes a lot of sense around the WR18 mark with guys like Jameson Williams, Tetairoa McMillan and Ladd McConkey.
  • Odunze is shaping up to be a VERY intriguing WR3 option who will likely settle in the same range as DJM himself. For now, I have Odunze as my WR27, just behind DeVonta Smith and Christian Watson.

Strap in folks: This NFL offseason is getting schwifty, and I love it!

Players Mentioned in this Article

  1. DJ Moore
    DJMoore
    WRBUFBUF
    PPG
    9.19
  2. Josh Allen
    JoshAllenQ
    QBBUFBUF
    PPG
    23.15
  3. Colston Loveland
    ColstonLovelandQ
    TECHICHI
    PPG
    8.97
  4. Rome Odunze
    RomeOdunze
    WRCHICHI
    PPG
    9.64