Brian Urlacher, one of the finest defensive players in the history of the Chicago Bears, could be close to signing a deal with one of the Bears' most bitter rivals, the Minnesota Vikings.
Urlacher had a bit of a messy divorce with the Bears, and although following the 2013 NFL Draft Vikings general manager Rick Spielman said he didn't anticipate signing Urlacher, he did leave the door open for a return to the topic.
A source close to Urlacher told Michael Sneed of the Chicago Sun-Times that, "It's getting close to happening, but Brian is leaning toward Minnesota and is talking a one- to two-year contract."
Soon after that news from Sneed, the Vikings announced that they plan to move forward without Urlacher, and that the team plans to give in-house linebackers the opportunity to compete for the inside linebacker job "barring unforeseen circumstances." The frontrunner in that race appears to be Erin Henderson, who will be shifting over from outside linebacker.
Urlacher has been in the NFL for 13 seasons, all of which were played in a Bears uniform. In that span, Urlacher has been named the 2000 Defensive Rookie of the Year, the 2005 Defensive Player of the Year, made eight Pro Bowls, and been selected as a First Team All-Pro four times. In addition to those honors, Urlacher has made 1,358 tackles, intercepted 22 passes and returned two for touchdowns, forced 11 fumbles and recovered 15.
Another rumor that surfaced about Urlacher linked him to the Denver Broncos, but sportscaster Gary Miller tweeted a message that threw cold water on that theory. Miller's tweet read, "Bronco sources say forget about report out of Chicago about interest in Urlacher. There isn't any. No interest. No contact. End of story."
While there haven't been any real suitors for the future Hall of Fame linebacker, he should be able to catch on somewhere one the injury bug rears its head come training camp.
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