Bears' D.J. Moore discusses Justin Fields trade, playing with Caleb Williams

Before the Chicago Bears traded quarterback Justin Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers in March, Chicago wide receiver D.J. Moore made it known on multiple occasions he backed Fields to be the club's long-term answer at the position. 

Moore recently spoke during organized team activities about the trade and about the Bears making signal-caller Caleb Williams the first overall pick of this year's draft. 

"Business is business," Moore said about the Bears moving on from Fields, per Grant Gordon of the NFL's website. "I seen it coming. So, at the end of the day, he was the quarterback last year, now we got Caleb. We're gonna ride through H-E-L-L and back with him, so I'm just looking forward to seeing what he put out."

There was little doubt even before the Bears shipped Fields to Pittsburgh that they would ultimately replace him with Williams. Chicago named Williams the club's Week 1 starter earlier this month, and building chemistry with the rookie is one reason Moore is participating in the voluntary portion of the offseason program.

"You can see that the natural leadership is there, the natural arm talent is there," Moore said about Williams. "Everything about him, it's just always a positive thing. Even when he has a bad play, he's looking to learn real fast right after. That's all you can ask of him, for him to quickly forget but also learn at the same time."

As of Friday afternoon, DraftKings Sportsbook listed Williams as the betting favorite at +135 odds to win the Offensive Rookie of the Year Award for the upcoming season. While Williams experienced what was called a "frustrating" practice on Thursday, Moore reminded fans that every first-year pro is going to have "welcome to the NFL" moments during springtime and summer sessions. 

"You just gotta know that the growing pains are going to be there," Moore added. 

DraftKings has the Bears' over/under win total for the 2024 campaign at 8.5. If Williams proves to be an immediate upgrade over Fields this fall, Chicago could make plenty of noise leading up to and possibly even during the playoffs.