After acquiring Quarterback Carson Palmer from the Bengals through a mid-October trade, the Oakland Raiders have now signed free agent TJ Houshmandzadeh to a one year, $910,000 deal, reuniting the wide receiver with his former Cincinnati teammate of five seasons.
Although he hasn’t suited up since playing for the Ravens in 2010, Houshmandzadeh participated in workouts with the Patriots, Giants and 49ers earlier this year, and was working out with Palmer in Southern California while the quarterback was holding out from the Bengals.
Over the course of his career, Houshmandzadeh, 34, has tallied up 616 receptions for 7,091 yards and 43 touchdowns while playing for the Bengals, Seattle Seahawks and Baltimore Ravens. He led the league in receptions in 2007, when he caught 112 passes for 1,143 yards and 12 touchdowns, and was subsequently named to the Pro Bowl that same year.
“He’s a guy that made a lot of catches when it was sticky,” Raiders Coach Hue Jackson said Monday before Houshmandzadeh signed.
Jackson, who coincidentally was the Bengal’s receivers coach in Cincinnati for three years during Houshmandzadeh’s tenure there, added:
“With people draped all over him, he made some uncommon plays for us in Cincinnati. That’s all I can go by in Cincinnati. I did not coach him in Seattle, I did not coach him in Baltimore. That’s why I have to take a great look at the player. It’s been a while.”
TJ Houshmandzadeh will likely make his Raiders debut Sunday as Palmer and company play host to Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
via WP
