Reports: Taylor agrees to deal with Bears

Chester Taylor will be playing against the Vikings twice a year instead of playing for them at least 16 times a season. The versatile running back has agreed to terms with the Chicago Bears, according to multiple reports.

The Chester Taylor era in Minnesota has ended, but it’s just starting up with a division rival.

According to multiple reports, the Chicago Bears and Taylor have agreed to a four-year, $12.5 million contract with $7 million in guarantees. Taylor averaged $3.5 million dollars over the life of his four-year contract with the Vikings that he signed in 2006.

The deal takes away Adrian Peterson’s primary backup in Minnesota and leaves the Vikings shorthanded with experienced running backs behind their star.

Taylor played in all 16 games for the Vikings in 2009, rushing 94 times for a 3.6-yard average and one touchdown. He was even more valuable to the Vikings as a third-down back. He caught 44 passes for an 8.8-yard average and a touchdown.

Many of those receptions were on third down. He led all NFL running backs with 26 third-down catches, the second straight season he did that, and ranked sixth overall in the league for third-down receptions. He was the only Viking with a rushing and receiving touchdown in 2009.

Taylor came to the Vikings via free agency in 2006 from Baltimore and became their immediate workhorse starter. He posted the sixth-highest single-season rushing total in franchise history with 1,214 yards, but when Adrian Peterson was available with the seventh overall draft choice in 2007, Taylor moved into a backup/third-down role.

Still, Taylor owns the longest run in Vikings history and the second-longest play from scrimmage – a 95-yard touchdown run in Seattle on Oct. 22, 2006.

Now it will be up to the Vikings to find a way to stop Taylor and his new teammate in Chicago, Matt Forte.

---

Tim Yotter is the publisher of Viking Update. Follow Viking Update on Twitter and discuss this topic on our message boards. To become a subscriber to the Viking Update web site or magazine, click here.

---