A year ago, the Saints liked wide receiver Cameron Meredith enough that they signed him to a free agent contract that guaranteed him $5.4 million. That did not go well.
So this week, Meredith signed with the Patriots for nothing guaranteed.
According to multiple reports, Meredith gets nothing guaranteed at all this season. If he makes the roster, the Patriots will pay him a salary of $720,000. Next year Meredith can make up to $1.3 million, but the Patriots could also cut him without paying him anything.
That’s a big step down from the big deal he got with the Saints last year, but until Meredith can get healthy and stay healthy, he’s not going to convince any team to pay him anything like what the Saints paid him.
In 2016 Meredith had a breakout season, emerging as the Bears’ No. 1 receiver and catching 66 passes for 888 yards and four touchdowns. But in the other three years he’s been in the league he has combined for just 20 catches, 234 yards and one touchdown.