The New Orleans Saints Introduce Their Latest Addition
The New Orleans Saints made another off season splash this week, by adding wide receiver Cameron Meredith.
It was a little bit of a shock when the Chicago Bears didn't match the Saints offer sheet for Meredith this week. Even though Meredith missed all of last year with an ACL tear, he has proven to be a productive NFL wide receiver over his first two years in the league.
Meredith was undrafted out of Illinois State in 2015, but played in 25 games for the Bears over his first two seasons. The 2016 season was his breakout season, where he racked up 66 catches for 888 yards and 4 touchdowns for a 3 win team.
Since everyone has the NFL Draft on their mind, a good comparison for this move would be to treat is like the 2nd round draft pick the Saints don't have. The team will be picking 27th overall in the 1st round (baring a trade) and won't pick again until the 3rd round. So if we treat this like their 2nd round pick, it looks even better.
Everyone would love to get a guy who could go off for 888 yards in an NFL season in the 2nd round of the draft. Meredith is only 25-years-old, so this is much more similar to a draft pick than signing an aging veteran.
The latest Saint spoke with reporters in New Orleans for the first time since signing a two year deal with the Black and Gold. Meredith says he believes he’ll fit in well with the Saints offense. One of the reasons he'll fit in well is the reunion with Saints Wide Receivers Coach Curtis Johnson. During Meredith's best season in Chicago, Johnson was his position coach in the Windy City.
Meredith expects to be ready when training camp starts in late July after missing all of last season with that knee injury.