Chicago Bears GM Ryan Pace drew a lot of flak from experts for his decisions regarding tags of players on the roster this year. He transition tagged cornerback Kyle Fuller and has used original tender tags on wide receivers Josh Bellamy and Cameron Meredith along with cornerback Bryce Callahan. The fear is this move could backfire since a team could make a hard run at them and if the Bears chose not to match the subsequent offer, would not get any compensation back since all three were undrafted free agents.
However, thus far his decisions seem to have paid off. The Bears were able to retain Fuller at a reasonable price after Green Bay made him an offer, paying $1 million less than the franchise tag money they would’ve had to otherwise. Now it seems the next man they must look to protect is Meredith.
The former Illinois State receiver seemed poised for a breakout year in 2017. The season before he led the team with 888 yards receiving. He was having a strong preseason last August but tragically tore his ACL in the third game against Tennessee. Hopes remain high he can still achieve those high expectations, and the interest in him around the league is evidence enough of that.
Two teams already poised to make offers to Cameron Meredith
It seems some teams believe the Bears might be less inclined to match any offers for Meredith now that they’ve signed Allen Robinson and Taylor Gabriel. That much is unclear, but what is clear is there’s no shortage of interested parties in the fourth-year receiver.
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Restricted free agent market: the Colts hosted Bears WR Cam Meredith for a visit, per league source. The Bears have the right to match any offer or lose Meredith without any compensation.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) March 20, 2018
Ravens hosting two restricted free agent receivers: the Saints’ Willie Snead and the Bears’ Cameron Meredith. Most of visits will be tomorrow.
— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiecsun) March 21, 2018
It’s true that Robinson and Gabriel are major upgrades for the Bears, but even then it makes little sense for the team to let Meredith walk. When healthy he’s a dynamic target who could form a productive trio with those two, far beyond what Chicago had in 2017. It would be nice for the Bears to have one of their own homegrown talents to take part in the fun to come.
Odds are neither the Colts or Ravens will be able to make a strong enough push to dissuade the Bears from matching an offer. He’s coming off a bad knee injury. Neither team is run by a dumb GM who’s desperate enough to overpay for him. Odds are the same situation that developed with Fuller will happen again. That being the market setting the price for Meredith so Pace can match it.
