Former Naperville star Earl signs deal with Bears

Former Naperville North High School and Notre Dame safety Glenn Earl was added to the Bears' secondary mix after signing a one-year contract Tuesday.

Earl, a fourth-round pick (122nd overall) of the Houston Texans in 2004, has not played in the NFL the past two seasons after suffering a foot injury (torn Lisfranc ligament) in a preseason game against the Bears in 2007. But Earl attended last week's minicamp on a tryout basis, and will go to training camp in July to compete for playing time with starters Kevin Payne and Josh Bullocks, along with Craig Steltz, Danieal Manning and Zackary Bowman.

Earl suffered the foot injury while tackling Cedric Benson in a preseason game and missed the entire 2007 season. The 6-foot-1, 213-pounder was released by the Texans on Aug. 29, 2008.

Earl played in 37 games in three seasons with the Texans, making 31 starts. He has 186 career tackles, 2 sacks, 3 interceptions and 1 forced fumble. Earl's defensive backs coach in Houston was Jon Hoke, who was hired to fill the same position with the Bears in January, replacing Steven Wilks.