Report: Ravens offered a contract to RFA WR Cameron Meredith

The Baltimore Ravens have been quite busy shopping for what seems like every wide receiver on the market. The team has made it very apparent for their desire to add as many weapons as possible for quarterback Joe Flacco and the offense. Even to the point of shopping for restricted free agents Cameron Meredith and Willie Snead.

Baltimore has already signed wide receivers John Brown and Michael Crabtree. However, the New Orleans Saints beat them to Meredith by agreeing to a 2-year, $9.6 million deal. Chicago now has five days to match the Saints offer.

Before this deal was agreed upon, the Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs reported that Baltimore was considering giving Meredith an offer sheet. As it turns out, according to Biggs in his latest article on Sunday, the Ravens did indeed offered Meredith a contract.

Biggs says that the Ravens deal gave Meredith “some leverage in the process”. Biggs did not go into any further detail on what kind of contract the Ravens gave Chicago’s young wide receiver, but it obviously wasn’t as lucrative as what the Saints gave him. Meredith is coming off a torn ACL which cost him all of the 2017 season. Although he is just one year removed from a breakout 2016 campaign in which he caught 66 passes for 888 yards and 4 touchdowns in 14 games with three different quarterbacks.

The Ravens’ best efforts unfortunately didn’t land Meredith in Baltimore as he will be a member of the Saints or will return to Chicago for the 2018 season. If the Bears don’t match, it could lead to the Ravens pointing their attention towards the aforementioned Snead, who would essentially be replaced by the presence of Meredith in New Orleans. All in all, Baltimore’s search for more wide receivers before the NFL Draft in a few weeks rolls on.