T.J. Houshmandzadeh

Check Access Vikings for regular updates on Houshmandzadeh and the Vikings.

T.J. Houshmandzadeh, possibly a Viking? Access Vikings says the long-named one is visiting the Twin Cities to talk with the Vikings.

Houshmandzadeh is an extremely good possession receiver, catching 294 passes in 44 games the past three seasons. But he is a possession receiver: his career yards per catch is 11.4, and in the past two seasons he had 10.2 and 9.8 yards per reception.

Don't get me wrong: the Vikings could certainly use an extremely good possession receiver. I can envision Sage Rosenfels throwing short and intermediate passes to Houshmandzadeh 10-12 times a game, while winging 2-3 deep balls to Bernard Berrian (20.1 yards per catch last season). But the Vikings must decide how much they want to pay to a possession receiver, however good he may be. Do you pay $10 million a year for 11.4 yards per reception? Perhaps that depends on team need, and what Houshmandzadeh's skills would mean to the Viking offense. Once the games start, it does not matter at all what a player is paid in relation to his production. What does matter, however, is if signing T.J. Houshmandzadeh prevents the Vikings from filling other important needs (offensive line, secondary, linebacker depth, defensive line depth, special teams). If the Vikings can still deal with those problems after paying Houshmandzadeh a bunch of money, by all means, pay Houshmandzadeh a bunch of money.