I guess if you are reading the tea leaves about Nagy's offense based upon FA spending they will be using the TE as the primary receiver in the middle of the field rather than the slot receiver. Gabriel will be going deep and Robinson will handle mid range outside.

Meredith's best work was in the slot (hey, hey) and they are deemphasizing the position, as a speculation.

The victims are the American People and the Republic itself.

They left a second round pick on the table over $1m and some change. That's about it for me and Ryan Pace.

Its one thing to make scouting mistakes and incorrect personnel decisions. Drafting Kevin White was a mistake, but they had a vision and plan to use him that made sense. Busts happen, they are bad to have happen but EVERYONE suffers them.

This is incompetence. A clear misunderstanding of the rules around free agency and the broader NFL market.

They did not know the RFA rules well enough to know that they were in a position to offer Meredith a higher tender and acquire draft capital in exchange, something I would've been opposed to at anything less than a 3rd rounder but ultimately accepted as a different of opinion.
--OR--
They did not read the market well enough to know that he would offered a $10m contract, which obviously means teams would've lined up to sign Meredith even if there was a pick attached.

Perhaps both.

Either way, this is about it for me and Ryan Pace. He may yet get the (Pro Bowl QB) Trubisky pick correct, but these types of mistakes and errors in his 4th offseason as GM are unacceptable. Shades of the Rosie Colvin disaster, a gaffe that proved prophetic for the Angelo tenure that is shaping up to be very similar to Pace's. If the Bears are lucky Nagy will be half the coach Lovie was for the Bears. And even if he is, it is a near certainty the Bears will fire Nagy for the mistakes of an incompetent and unfocused front office.

You’re insane. There’s no chance that another team would give up a 2nd rd pick For Cam Meredith. No chance.

Pace goofed up last year by replacing Alshon with paying Markus Wheaton $6M for 1 year of zero production and Kendall Wright $4M for having a pulse.

Now he thought he could compensate by outsmarting the market/GMs by low-balling his "hidden gem" coming off an ACL. All Pace had to do was look in the mirror as he unloaded a dump truck of cash for a guy with an ACL too! Why would he think it'd be any different with Meredith?

This fucking guy.

That is exactly how he operated his offense in KC.

Well, duh, he had Travis Kelce. Of course the offense would revolve around him.

I'm not seeing a fearsome offense designed around Trey Burton.

The victims are the American People and the Republic itself.

You’re insane. There’s no chance that another team would give up a 2nd rd pick For Cam Meredith. No chance.

Fine. Then he's yours for 1y $3m, futher buttressing your WR depth chart from the NFL roster chaos.

.You’re insane. There’s no chance that another team would give up a 2nd rd pick For Cam Meredith. No chance.

The victims are the American People and the Republic itself.

Zippy wins the thread.

This board is hopeless.

Fine. Then he's yours for 1y $3m, futher buttressing your WR depth chart from the NFL roster chaos.

Here is where I have to explain to people like you the nuances of NFL finance...then the Bears get Meredith cheap and nearly risk free ..1 year 3 million dollars. Thanks for playing.

The victims are the American People and the Republic itself.

Here is what I'll try explain to you Bob, so read slowly please.

The Bears had already spent more than 28 other teams in the league on WR's before the Saints came along and offered.

Positions and their respective costs are slotted in the NFL.

The Bears have more info regarding his injury and rehab than anyone else.

They offered a number they could live with.

The Saints over paid.

Bernard Berrian.

Bernard Berrian.

Berrian signed a six-year, $42 million contract with the Vikings in 2008(TEN YEARS AGO!) with 16 million guaranteed. The Bears could have had Meredith for 1 year 3 million..in 2018. Go home and get your shine box.

The victims are the American People and the Republic itself.

So will the Bears have a good WR core next year?

Meredith is going to be good.

That's what I'm saying. The Saints don't fuck around at the WR position if you are a bum. They always are finding, bringing in talent.

Im not sure what the point of the question is. If you’re saying the core would be good if they had (post-injury) Meredith then I guess we’ll have to see what he does next season. Apparently the Bears felt he hadn’t or wouldn’t return to his pre-injury level this season. Given the relatively low risk noted in other posts it seems they felt he wouldn’t be the same.

They can afford more at a position like WR because they have the QB cheap for now.

Son, they’re gonna beat on your white ass like it’s a rented mule