CHICAGO _ The Saints are signing Bears restricted free-agent wide receiver Cameron Meredith to an offer sheet, ESPN reported Friday.
The Bears now must decide whether they want to match the offer. The NFL Network reported it's a two-year deal worth $9.6 million, with $5.4 million in guarantees.
Saints wide receivers coach Curtis Johnson was the Bears wide receivers coach in 2016, when Meredith broke out with 66 catches for 888 yards and four touchdowns. Meredith missed the 2017 season after tearing the ACL in his left knee in an exhibition game.
The Bears gave Meredith, 25, an original-round tender worth $1.907 million and must decide if the extra money is worth what they would get in production from Meredith coming off his knee injury.
If they match the offer within five days, Meredith would be theirs on the two-year contract. The Saints wouldn't owe the Bears draft-pick compensation if the Bears don't match it.
Meredith also visited the Colts and the Ravens.
"We know we'll have a decision to make if an offer comes in, and we're prepared for that," Bears general manager Ryan Pace said last week at the NFL annual meetings. "I'm not surprised. I think teams are probably weighing the productivity he has had in the past, along with the injury that he sustained."
Meredith signed as an undrafted free agent with the Bears in 2015. He had 11 catches for 120 yards in his rookie season.
In desperate need of targets for quarterback Mitch Trubisky, the Bears brought in three through free agency in wide receivers Allen Robinson and Taylor Gabriel and tight end Trey Burton. Wide receiver Kevin White also returns for another shot after missing 2017 with a broken shoulder blade. And the Bears signed wide receiver Josh Bellamy to a restricted free-agent tender earlier this week.
Meredith is the second Bears player to receive an offer sheet from another team this offseason. The Bears matched the Packers' offer sheet for cornerback Kyle Fuller last month.
