Wide receiver Cameron Meredith will be signing with either the Bears or Saints on Wednesday.
The Saints signed the restricted free agent to an offer sheet last Friday, leaving the Bears with five days to match the offer or let Meredith depart for New Orleans without getting any compensation in return. The deal is worth a reported $9.6 million with $5.4 million in guaranteed money.
That’s a good raise from the $1.9 million that Meredith stood to make after receiving the lowest RFA tender from the Bears. That’s why there’s no compensation due back for Chicago, something they could have changed by giving Meredith a second-round tender. That would have set him up to make just over 2.9 million in 2018 and the failure to do so will look like a misstep if they do wind up matching the offer sheet by Wednesday afternoon’s deadline.
Meredith had 66 catches for 888 yards in 2016, but missed all of last season with a torn ACL. That injury may have been the reason why the Bears resisted the higher tender number and we’ll see if it also leads them to part ways with Meredith altogether.