The Minnesota Vikings have denied a gossip columnist report out of Chicago that they would likely sign Brian Urlacher.

"Brian has been a great player in our league for a long, long time. He was a thorn in our side for many years," said Leslie Frazier. "At this point we want to look at the guys on our roster, give them a chance to compete for the middle linebacker position then we'll see where it takes us."

Eric Henderson is the leading candidate to move to middle linebacker for the Vikings.

Urlacher and the Chicago Bears parted ways this offseason.