LAKE FOREST, Ill. – With one stroke of a pen Friday, Chester Taylor helped one NFC North team and hurt another.

After spending the past four seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, the free-agent running back signed a four-year contract with the Bears, ensuring that he will face his former team twice a season.

New Bears running back Chester Taylor signs his contract Friday at Halas Hall.

“I’m pretty sure it’s going to be kind of strange because I know a lot of players over there,” Taylor said. “It will be fun though. Going out there to play against them is going to be exciting.”

Taylor served as Adrian Peterson’s backup the past three seasons. In 2009, the 5-11, 213-pounder rushed for 338 yards and 1 touchdown on 94 carries and caught 44 passes for 389 yards and 1 TD.

Taylor’s role has yet to be defined with the Bears. But he doesn’t seem to mind.

“They didn’t tell me anything,” Taylor said. “This is football. It’s always competitive. People come in and compete every day. I just want to help the team win right now.”

Taylor is excited about playing for new Bears offensive coordinator Mike Martz.

“In Mike Martz’s offense,” Taylor said, “I see how Marshall Faulk was used, and I’m just willing to come in and try to play that role, and any way I can help my team win I’m going to do.”

After spending his first four NFL seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, Taylor signed with the Vikings in 2006. In his only year as a starter, he rushed for 1,216 yards and 6 TDs on 303 carries. When the Vikings selected Peterson in the first round of the draft the following spring, Taylor knew his days as a starter were numbered.

“My first year at Minnesota I got my feet wet,” he said. “But I never got the opportunity to see what I could do the year after. I’m just looking for another opportunity to showcase my talent and help my team win.”

Taylor acknowledged that it was difficult to leave the Vikings.

“It was very hard for me to leave Minnesota,” he said. “They did give me the opportunity to start when I first came out of Baltimore. It was hard leaving them because we all came in together as one group—the coaching staff and a few other players. But I’m pretty sure they understand what I had to do as far as for my family and the best decision I was going to make for my future.”