How the Vikings & Iloka struck a deal in warp speed, reuniting him with Zimmer
How the Vikings and safety George Iloka struck a deal in warp speed, reuniting him with Mike ZimmerJust days ago, the Vikings were nowhere on George Iloka's radar. Now, he'll take on an immediate role.
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 on 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.”
Not 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. By Wednesday afternoon, he was on the Vikings’ practice field, back with Zimmer more than four years after they’d last worked together.
http://www.startribune.com/how-the-vikings-and-safety-george-iloka-struck-a-deal-in-warp-speed-reuniting-the-ex-bengal-with-mike-zimmer/491500401/
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
Aside from Iloka taking a few first-team snaps during the middle of practice, Andrew Sendejo remained with the Vikings’ starting defense on Wednesday, and when Zimmer was asked about backup safeties like 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.”
In whatever role he plays, he figures to be with the Vikings once the regular season starts. Even if his arrival in Minnesota wasn’t under the circumstances the Vikings or he might have envisioned, Iloka sounded grateful to be back with Zimmer on Wednesday.
“We have a good relationship,” he said. “I just told him to be the same Zim you were when I was a rookie. That’s kind of why I always liked him — hard coach, exact, real good with his defense. The only thing he pitched to me was, ‘You know the system and I want you here.’ And that was enough for me.”
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