Concern about Meredith's knee was reason for Bears not matching

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The only reason to let him walk out the door, then, is substantiated doubt about the knee in which Meredith tore the anterior cruciate ligament and partly tore the medial collateral ligament in August. Pace often references the importance of conviction in personnel decisions, and clearly the Bears have conviction on this.

It would have been relatively cheap for them to ensure Meredith’s comeback attempt occurred in their uniform. They could have tendered him last month at the second-round level for only $1 million more than the no-compensation level of $1.9 million they did.

Only $1 million more could have deterred poachers such as the Saints and eliminated the chance Meredith goes elsewhere and outperforms what the Bears’ medical evaluation indicates he will be capable of.

As the GM of a team in need of offensive playmakers — and one that sits today with $24 million in salary-cap space — Pace has opened himself to scrutiny for not paying extra to avoid that possibility.

Tendering Meredith the low-level qualifying offer, which affords the Bears no compensation for his departure, and subsequently not matching the Saints’ offer sheet broadcasts the Bears’ medical evaluation of a player they otherwise could use and would love to have kept.

In fact, heavy doubt about Meredith’s knee has existed since his surgery. By late October, the Bears concluded they could not use ink to write Meredith’s name in their 2018 plans.

That’s why they approached free agency in March as though anything they received from Meredith this season would be icing on Matt Nagy’s new offensive cake.

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