Solomon attended Madison High School but he didn't play football until his junior year when he started on the defensive line.
Solomon was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the twelfth round (318th overall) of the 1986 NFL draft, after a private workout with scout Ralph Kohl and being rated high for his athletic abilities.
In his second season, he became a full-time starter at left outside linebacker and led the team in tackles (126) when Chris Doleman was moved to defensive end.
In 1989, he didn't start because there were conditional draft picks attached to the Vikings traded players and the Dallas Cowboys wanted the selections instead of keeping Solomon and the others.
Head coach Jimmy Johnson eventually had second thoughts on the February 1 deadline and traded three future draft choices (third-round and tenth-round in 1990 and a third-round in 1991) to the Vikings for the right to retain the original full package of draft choices, plus Solomon, Issiac Holt and David Howard.
On August 21, 1991, when told of his demotion to the second team from his starting strongside linebacker position, he walked out of the Cowboys' training camp and would eventually be traded to the New England Patriots in exchange for a sixth round draft choice (#149-Fallon Wacasey) on September 15.
[3] On September 18, 1991, the New England Patriots traded Solomon to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in exchange for a fifth round draft choice (#116-Dwayne Sabb).
[4] Reunited with his former Vikings defensive coordinator Floyd Peters, Solomon went on to record 128 tackles (91 solo) in just 12 starts.