Vikings won't say if center Bentley is on radar

Could LeCharles Bentley be on the Vikings' radar?

Jonathan Feinsod, the agent for the recently released veteran center, said Thursday that about 10 teams have expressed interest in Bentley, but he declined to get into specifics.

The Vikings could be considered a potential suitor for Bentley, 28, because Pro Bowl center Matt Birk is entering the last season of his contract and hasn't been approached about an extension. However, the team has liked what it has seen from sixth-round pick John Sullivan and has a few other candidates to play the position if Birk leaves after 2008.

The Browns parted company with Bentley this week after two injury-filled seasons in which he never played a game.

A two-time Pro Bowl selection with New Orleans, Bentley signed a six-year, $36 million free-agent deal with Cleveland in March 2006. However, he tore his left patellar tendon that July on the first day of training camp; then he developed a staph infection and had to undergo three more surgical procedures.

Vikings coach Brad Childress, attending the team's annual golf fundraiser Thursday at Rush Creek, was asked about Bentley. "You always keep a book on all those guys," Childress said, admitting he hadn't sat down and looked at the situation.

"You're not going to work out a guy like that because he's a vested veteran, but we always keep a book on all those things,'' Childress said. "Right now, we've got a lot of guys who are able to snap the football, which is rare."

Birk is one of those guys -- Childress also mentioned starting right tackle Ryan Cook and right guard Anthony Herrera -- but Birk has stayed away from all of the team's voluntary workouts.

At Vikings minicamp last weekend, Birk didn't dismiss that the lack of a new deal has played a role in his thinking, as has the fact that he wanted to spend time with his family. Birk's wife, Adrianna, gave birth to the couple's fourth child Thursday. (Grant Matthew Birk weighed 7 pounds, 7 ounces.)

Childress said a team interested in Bentley would "have to know how he heals, put hands on him [to do an examination] and then you'd have to have a need."

With Birk not in attendance at Vikings practices during Organized Team Activities, Sullivan got many of the reps with the first team at center.

"What he showed me was that he was unflappable," Childress said of the Notre Dame product. "Whether it was an error, which is going to get made, playing with [Pro Bowl guard] Steve Hutchinson on his left. Playing in there against guys like Kevin Williams. ... I just thought he did a great job of picking things up. He has a good way about him. He has good demeanor in the offensive line."

• The Vikings raised about $100,000 for the team's Children's Fund at Thursday's golf event.

• Nose tackle Pat Williams, who had an offseason procedure performed on his arm, has been cleared to lift weights and "is back to building strength again," Childress said.