Reuters

The Bears and linebacker Brian Urlacher haven’t come to an agreement for his return, leaving the door open for another NFC North team to bend Urlacher’s ear.

Mike Mulligan of the Chicago Tribune reports that a Vikings source confirms that there have been talks with Urlacher’s camp in recent days. The source said that the Vikes would be “monitoring” the situation, but the team still believes that Urlacher will eventually wind up remaining in Chicago.

Mulligan adds the Cardinals to the list of teams thought to have interest in Urlacher and also mentions the Cowboys, whose interest was also reported by Mike Silver of Yahoo! Sports. Neither of those teams carry the emotional baggage of the Vikings, though.

At a press conference Wednesday, Bears coach Marc Trestman called Urlacher a “very, very capable player” and said he was excited about Urlacher potentially being part of the team in 2013. General Manager Phil Emery said that he didn’t think there was any reason to think Urlacher feels slighted by the way the Bears have been going about their business.

“Well, the talks are ongoing so I don’t know why anybody would feel slighted,” Emery said. “We haven’t come to a conclusion.”

The image of Urlacher in purple is a difficult one to conjure up, but free agency can make for strange bedfellows.