The NFL Draft has come and gone, and it's still not clear how the Minnesota Vikings will fill the void at middle linebacker created when Jasper Brinkley signed with the Arizona Cardinals. The team has a few in-house options, but Judd Zulgad and Tom Pelissero of 1500 ESPN report the Vikings could look to one of the veteran free agents -- including former Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher -- remaining on the market.
After the draft, general manager Rick Spielman said that the team would assess what it has and then go from there.
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After the draft, general manager Rick Spielman said that the team would assess what it has and then go from there.
"We're going to sit and assess what we have," Spielman said. "Everybody was a little bit tired so I wasn't going to sit there and have a personnel meeting with the coaches tonight. We'll get to that on Monday and kind of see where we're at. We signed a couple of linebackers, another linebacker in college free agency (Saturday), so we'll see where we're at and go from there."
The Vikings drafted two linebackers this weekend, but only one -- seventh-round pick Michael Mauti -- is likely to compete in the middle. Other candidates to fill the role are 2012 seventh-round pick Audie Cole or Erin Henderson, who would have to move over from the weak-side to the middle.
Considering none of these options are overwhelming, the Vikings could still find themselves in negotiations with Urlacher as the regular season approaches.
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