Jim Owczarski

jowczarski@enquirer.com

The Cincinnati Bengals entered this offseason with 14 unrestricted free agents, and it was clear from the beginning that they would not be able to retain all of them. On Tuesday, The Enquirer learned that linebacker Emmanuel Lamur would be one that departed, and on Wednesday it became official that the fifth-year linebacker will sign with the Minnesota Vikings.

He will sign a two-year deal for $6 million, with $2.5 million of that guaranteed, per a league source.

Teams were allowed to submit offers to players Monday when the NFL legal tampering period opened at noon, and the Detroit Lions and Miami Dolphins also expressed interest in the 26-year-old.

The Bengals were not one of the teams interested in Lamur, as they never offered a contract.

Lamur will be reunited with Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer, who was the Bengals’ defensive coordinator prior to becoming the head coach for the Vikings in 2014. Lamur will be the second player to leave Cincinnati to head north, following cornerback Terence Newman last year.

Lamur, a converted safety who the Bengals signed out of Kansas State as an undrafted free agent in 2012, played in all 16 games for the Bengals in 2015 before injuring a knee in the regular-season finale against Baltimore and missing the playoff game.

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Lamur started 13 games for the Bengals in 2014 and made 91 total tackles while intercepting two passes and breaking up seven more. All were career highs.

That led to the team re-signing the linebacker to a 1-year, $2.36 million offer as a restricted free agent before the start of last season. He came off the bench in 2015 and was a core special teams player, finishing the year with 40 tackles, three passes defensed, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.

Bengals free agent tracker