De La Puente (knee) is probable for Sunday's game against Buffalo. De La Puente's knee injury from early August evidently isn't an issue at this point, and he'll suit up for the Bears on Sunday.

De La Puente injured his knee and will not return to Friday's preseason game. As the backup center behind Roberto Garza, this shouldn't have an immediate impact on the Bears' offense, but if the injury turns out to be serious, it will detract from the depth of the offensive line.

Bears signed C Brian De La Puente to a one-year contract. The deal contains $165,000 guaranteed. It'll be a seamless transition for De La Puente, whose old position coach in New Orleans -- Aaron Kromer -- is now the offensive coordinator in Chicago. De La Puente, 29 in May, was Drew Brees' starting center the past three seasons, and graded out 12th, second, and 16th in Pro Football Focus' center ratings in each of those years. Incumbent C Roberto Garza, 35, is expected to keep his job, but could be on an increasingly short leash. So late in free agency, this was an excellent value add by GM Phil Emery.

ESPN Saints reporter Mike Triplett believes free agent C Brian De La Puente is definitely still in play for the Saints. De La Puente's market has been ice cold to this point. He should be relatively cheap to retain. He's started the past 32 games for the Saints and remains easily the top free-agent center on the market not named Alex Mack. Tim Lelito is currently penciled in as the Saints' starting center.

Coach Sean Payton believes the Saints could still "very well" re-sign free agent C Brian De La Puente. Payton made the comments at the league meetings on Wednesday. A 16-game starter each of the past two seasons, De La Puente's only-known visit was the Redskins. Tim Lelito is the leading in-house candidate to start if De La Puente ends up signing elsewhere.

Free agent C Brian De La Puente is visiting the Redskins. The Redskins released C Will Montgomery last week. If they can't land a center in free agency or the draft, LG Kory Lichtensteiger is expected to make the switch to center. De La Puente is our No. 2 free-agent center, behind Alex Mack.

The Giants have expressed interest in free agent C Brian De La Puente. The cap-strapped Saints have not made an effort to get their starting center from the last three seasons re-signed. The Giants' interest suggests that David Baas may not be willing to take a pay cut.

ESPN Saints reporter Mike Triplett believes there's a "strong chance" C Brian De La Puente will walk in free agency. Triplett only sees De La Puente returning "at a very affordable rate." The Saints have nearly $14 million committed to guards Jahri Evans and Ben Grubbs for 2014, and De La Puente could potentially be replaced in-house by 2013 UDFA Tom Lelito. Lelito flashed some promise in two rookie-year starts at guard.

Saints re-signed C Brian De La Puente.