One day after matching the three-year, $2.85 million offer sheet signed by wide receiver D'Wayne Bates, the Chicago Bears, frustrated in their attempts to renegotiate his contract, released him Thursday.

	Bates

That may or may not help Bates, who wanted the Bears to let him go to the division rival Minnesota Vikings. Bates, is entering his fourth season, will be subject to the waiver system. The Vikings have the seventh-best priority on waiver claims because of their 5-11 record and have a great chance to get him.

But it's not out of the question for a team such as Houston to look at the $1.1 million first-year cap number and put in a claim. Most of the other teams ahead of the Vikings, however, either don't have the cap room or don't have the interest of putting in a claim for Bates.

The Vikings have told Dogra that they would be putting in a waiver claim for Bates on Friday.

"I think it's unfortunate that they misused the system," said Bates' agent, Ben Dogra. "They misused the system to their advantage in effort not to allow the player to go to the Minnesota Vikings. They used a 24-hour window to see if they could adjust the contract to move him to another place."

One of the reasons for the quick release is that once the contract is executed, Bates is due a $550,000 roster bonus on the third business day. That meant the Bears would have had to pay him $550,000 Friday if he was on the Chicago's roster.

Complicating matters was a five-day no trade clause in the contract, which was structured to have the Bears take a signing bonus cap hit if they traded or released him. This all was done with the intention of getting him out of Chicago.

Now, Bates' payment will be delayed until he's claimed. However, if he clears waivers, then he would be a free agent and might file a grievance against the Bears if he doesn't make $1.1 million this year.

This is the second unusual circumstance during Bates' free agency. Earlier, the Bears failed to check a compensation box in paperwork to let him know that he was a restricted free agent. Had the Bears checked the correct box, they would have been able to receive a third-round choice had he signed with another team.

Now, it's official. Bates is no longer a Bears player, and the Bears will not receive any draft choice compensation for his departure.

John Clayton is a senior writer for ESPN.com.