It was $10 million. The Chicago Bears had upwards of $25 million in salary cap space. Couldn’t they afford to pay Cameron Meredith $5 million for 2018? Really? In truth, common sense dictates the money was a minor party to the decision to let Meredith walk. A big factor was the health of his knee. One mustn’t forget he didn’t just tear the ACL but the MCL as well. That’s hard to come back from, especially for receivers. However, people are also putting too much blame on GM Ryan Pace. They can’t forget about Matt Nagy.
People were foolish to think nothing would change for the Bears when the 39-year old took over. Especially on offense. There was always a strong chance that one or two names fans liked wouldn’t be kept around. It’s inevitable that Nagy would not see players in the same light that Dowell Loggains would’ve. Meredith is one of those players.
However, there’s another key factor in play here. That’s the Nagy offense itself. Over the past two years, it can often be lost, but wide receivers aren’t the central element of what made it successful. That reality, combined with the knee issue, likely made the Meredith decision easier than some might think.
Matt Nagy offense uses all positions to elevate the passing game
Let’s start by looking back at 2017 when Nagy took center stage as an offensive coordinator. His group finished seventh in the league in passing. Was it the wide receivers leading the way? Not as much as one might think. Tyreek Hill (a former fifth round pick) led the way with 1,183 yards. The next man up? That was Albert Wilson with 554 yards.
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Remember the Chiefs finished the year with 4,326 yards through the air. So if not the receivers, where did that other production come from? The answer is everywhere else. Tight ends Travis Kelce and Demetrius Harris combined for 1,262 yards. Running back Kareem Hunt added another 455. All told the Chiefs wide receivers accounted for 52.82% of the total receiving it that offense.
In other words, Nagy found almost half the production at other positions. Don’t forget the Bears have Adam Shaheen, Tarik Cohen and just signed Trey Burton as well. Did people think he wasn’t going to find a way to get them the ball? That group along with Robinson and Gabriel would’ve eaten into Meredith’s opportunities.
#Eagles won the Super Bowl with Torrey Smith, a 1-year deal Alshon Jeffery, a so-called 1st round bust in Nelson Agholor and Zach Ertz.
#Chiefs had a top 5 offense with Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, Albert Wilson and Demarcus Robinson.#Bears will be just fine. Scheme MATTERS.
— DeVante Tidwell (@TidwellTalks) April 11, 2018
Part of the reason he had 888 yards in 2016 was that he was targeted on 97 pass plays. There’s no way that would’ve happened this year. It’s likely 45-50 would’ve been his range, and that’s if he didn’t end up on the PUP list with that knee problem. A team doesn’t pay a player $5 million per year for that. Not when there are younger, healthier and cheaper options available.
It would’ve been nice to keep him, but was he essential? Not to Nagy, he wasn’t.
