“DJ is one of my favorite players, he will always be one of my favorite players. I knew it was going to be difficult for our organization,” Poles told reporters Thursday.
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It was also difficult for his son Mason.
“I’ve mentioned this before: My son is a passionate Chicago Bears fan. He wasn’t very happy with me at all,” Poles said.
“I think it was cool that DJ sent him a video telling him not to be mad at dad (and that) it’s part of the business.”
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It’s easy to understand why Mason, and so many others, loved seeing Moore in Chicago. He caught 20 total touchdowns in three seasons with the Bears, notably posting game-winners to cap a pair of incredible comebacks against the rival Green Bay Packers last season, the second of which helped give Chicago its first playoff victory since the 2010 season.
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Less than two years ago, the Bears signed Moore to a four-year extension reportedly worth $110 million. At the time, Moore was coming off the best season of his career. He had a career-high eight touchdowns and his 1,364 receiving yards were more than he recorded in each of his three 1,000-yard seasons with the Carolina Panthers.
The Poles were asked Thursday about parting ways with Moore just two seasons later.
“There is a financial part, but you also have to take into account the space,” said the 40-year-old general manager. “And when you have Rome Odunze and how talented he is, I know he had some injuries last year. You look at what Luther did. Again, that’s why you follow the draft board. I didn’t expect Luther Burden to be where he was, and he showed up and showed some big flashes. Every time that guy touches the ball, special things can happen.”
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The Poles then said, referring to Colston Loveland: “And obviously our tight end is a special player as well. So, with that being said, you have to consider different moves that will help you continue to build your football team, and that’s what we felt was best.”
The Poles noted that there were “quite a few teams” interested in Moore. In the end, the 2018 first-round pick ended up with the Buffalo Bills.
Moore, soon to be 29, is reunited with now-Bills head coach Joe Brady, who was Moore’s OC at one point in Carolina. And he’ll catch passes from 2024 NFL MVP Josh Allen.
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“I’m probably a little different when it comes to changes,” Poles said. “There was an opportunity to put DJ in a really cool spot to make him successful. Unfortunately, we have to play with him next year.”
“But I think for his career, for that team, I think he’s a…” he added before joking, “I told one of my friends, I’m from Western New York, and I said, ‘My immediate family is not very happy with me. My extended family is very happy with me.’ So yeah, we wish him the best.”