As Tuesday afternoon turned into Tuesday evening, a reunion with Mike Zimmer in Minnesota still wasn't on George Iloka's mind.
The former Bengals safety, who was released Sunday for salary cap reasons, said he had talked to other teams who had similar defenses to the one he'd played in for six years in Cincinnati; the Raiders, who now employ former Bengals defensive coordinator Paul Guenther, were reported to have interest in the 28-year-old. But there'd been no indication of interest from the Vikings — until Iloka got a late-night call from Zimmer on Tuesday.
"The Vikings came out of nowhere pretty much — late last evening," Iloka said Wednesday afternoon. "Talked to Zim and then the ball just got rolling real fast, so I wouldn't even say they were an option two days ago because there was no communication with them. Obviously my priority was to go into a good situation, go to a winning team, and a place that had a plan for me, or just a place that I felt that I could help the team out in any kind of way. That's what made this decision pretty easy."
Less than six hours after the phone call with Zimmer, Iloka was on his way to the airport for a flight to the Twin Cities. He signed a one-year deal with the Vikings on Wednesday morning for the veteran minimum base salary of $790,000 and a $90,000 signing bonus, according to a source. By Wednesday afternoon, he was on the Vikings' practice field, back with Zimmer more than four years after they'd last worked together.
It remains to be seen what kind of role Iloka will play in Minnesota, or how he'll fare after reconnecting with Zimmer, the first defensive coordinator of Iloka's career. But two years after the Vikings' free agency pursuit of Iloka ended with him returning to the Bengals — on the five-year, $30 million deal that had become too pricey for Cincinnati by this week — he'll get his shot to make an impression in Minnesota.
"He's very smart, a good tackler," Zimmer said. "He's going to be where he's supposed to be all the time. He pretty much knows a lot of things that we're doing. We went over most of the calls with him [Wednesday] and he knew probably 85 percent of them."
Aside from Iloka taking a few first-team snaps during the middle of practice, Andrew Sendejo remained with the Vikings' starting defense, and when Zimmer was asked about backup safeties such as Anthony Harris and Jayron Kearse, he said adding Iloka "wasn't a move to replace anyone. This was a move to get as many good players as we can."
Iloka's addition could initially help the Vikings in some of their sub packages, particularly around the goal line, where the 6-4 safety's size could be an advantage. He'll also play at least initially on special teams — though Zimmer said he still uses the safety as a cautionary tale there.
