Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Pace said on Tuesday that input from Chicago's team physicians and training staff weighed heavily in the organization's decision to decline to match the offer sheet to wide receiver Cameron Meredith received from the New Orleans Saints.
Speaking publicly for the first time since Meredith left the Bears, Pace hinted that the wide receiver's serious knee injury suffered last preseason was the overriding factor in Chicago letting him go.
Meredith, 25, led the Bears with 66 receptions, 888 receiving yards and four touchdowns in 2016. He missed the entire 2017 season after he tore knee ligaments in Chicago's third preseason game at Tennessee last summer.