Chicago Bears: Cameron Meredith out, WR is draft priority

After waiting until the nearly final tick, the Chicago Bears made a decision regarding their restricted free agent wideout Cameron Meredith.

The Chicago Bears are not going to match the offer sheet signed by Cameron Meredith and the New Orleans Saints. His time with the Bears is over.

The Saints got Meredith for a 2-year, $10 million deal — which is a heck of a steal for a player of Meredith’s caliber when healthy.

Speaking of health, that may be the reason the Bears decided not to match the offer sheet. It was pretty simple. If they felt good about his knee, they would not hesitate to match the deal. If they did not, he wouldn’t be back.

The Bears had the money to sign Meredith, so anybody giving that as an excuse is mistaken. Fans, get a good last glimpse at the former Bear and Saint-to-be.

Now, the attention for the Bears turns to the draft. Without many solid options still available in free agency, Chicago now has to add wide receiver to their draft needs — not exactly a great spot to be in, especially with other needs that were already high up in importance.

Along with guard and both linebacker spots, now wide receiver becomes an important piece to their draft. More than ever, the Bears should be on the phone with other teams looking to move up. The Buffalo Bills would be a great option, because Chicago could end up getting an additional second round selection out of the deal.

If the Bears were to work out a trade, they could potentially go after guys like D.J. Moore, Christian Kirk or Courtland Sutton in the second round. I cannot stress this enough — a trade needs to happen. Pace has to acquire more picks at this point.

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It is going to be interesting to see what Pace’s next move is now that the decision has been made on Meredith. There are going to be many people questioning this situation, and for good reason. Meredith was a young, up-and-coming pass-catcher who was a hometown kid, beloved by fans.

It is on to the next chapter for Meredith, and onto the next option at wide receiver for the Bears.