According to the National Football Post, free agent wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh signed a five-year, $40 million contract with the Seahawks. The deal also includes $15 million in guarantees.

Barring any last-second problems, free agent wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh will sign a multi-year contract with the Seattle Seahawks, according to sources close to the situation.

According to the source, the Seahawks have offered close to $2 million more than the closest competitor in the race for Houshmandzadeh’s services.

An eight-year veteran out of Oregon State, Houshmandzadeh caught 92 passes for 904 yards and 4 touchdowns in 15 starts for the Bengals last season.

In addition to the Seahawks, the Vikings and Bengals were pursing Houshmandzadeh.

Well…slap…me…hard. I thought Housh would wind up in Minnesota after the Vikes made a decent push this weekend and if not there, surely back in Cincinnati where the Bengals seemed to be offering the most money. Out of the top three choices, I would have ranked Seattle third as Housh’s likely destination. Yikes.

Perhaps the biggest name still left on the free agent market is wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh, who appears poised to sign with the Vikings if you read between the lines.

When the free agency period began last Friday, Housh set up a visit with the Seahawks. He left Seattle without signing a contract, however, and despite rumors that the Lions, Bengals and Bears were interested, Housh headed to Minnesota for a visit with the Vikings on Saturday.

He hasn’t left Minnesota since.

According to FOXSports.com, free agent wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh will make a visit to Seattle on Friday.

Houshmandzadeh has averaged 89 catches for 1,012 yards and seven touchdowns in five seasons as a Bengals starter. But he also will be 32 in September, which may scare some teams from offering the lucrative long-term contract Houshmandzadeh is seeking.

The Seahawks failed to have a wide receiver crack the 500-yard mark in 2008 — the first time that had happened in a non-strike season since the franchise’s inception in 1976.

Two of Seattle’s top four receivers — Bobby Engram and Koren Robinson — are now free agents.

Hopefully Housh enjoys blocking because if he signs with Seattle, he’ll be doing a lot of it in Greg Knapp’s West Coast Offense. Not that he wouldn’t be a fit for the Seahawks because they do need dependable wide receivers (some mock drafts have the Hawks taking Texas Tech wideout Michael Crabtree in the first round), but Knapp has been known to frustrate receivers before (Terrell Owens and Peerless Price are just two examples) and Housh isn’t the type to bite his tongue if he’s unhappy about his role.

Housh also told ESPN 950 that if the Eagles want him that he’d, “be an Eagle tomorrow.� But does Philly want him?

- According to NFL.com, Kurt Warner and the Cardinals remain far apart on a new contract, which means the quarterback will hit the open market at 12:01 a.m. Friday morning. Warner is still likely to re-sign with Arizona, but the Cards can’t feel entirely comfortable that he’ll be allowed to test the market.

- Despite saying he would like to play for the Steelers, Jeff Saturday re-signed with the Colts for three more years. Saturday was apparently willing to play guard if he went to Pittsburgh, but he’s a fan favorite in Indianapolis and apparently well liked by new head coach Jim Caldwell.

- Free agent quarterback Rex Grossman (Bears) says he would be interested in playing for the Lions next season. He must think he can beat out the other 95 quarterbacks that Detroit has on its roster.

- The National Football Post is reporting that there’s a 70% chance that T.J. Houshmandzadeh stays a Bengal. Not that the report is inaccurate by any means, but I highly doubt Housh stays in Cincy if a contender comes along and outbids the Bengals. Still, this is positive news for Cincy fans.

- In a series of moves, the Dolphins signed free agent free safety Gibril Wilson, who was cut by the Raiders earlier this week, and re-signed strong safety Yeremiah Bell to a new four-year, $20 million contract.

- According to FOXSports.com, the Cowboys are reportedly shopping strong safety Roy Williams. So if any team is in need of an extra linebacker that they can line up at safety, Williams might be their guy.

Notable Free Agents: T.J. Houshmandzadeh, WR; Stacy Andrews, OT; Shayne Graham, K (franchised); Eric Ghiaciuc, C; Cedric Benson, RB; Brandon Johnson, LB; Chris Crocker, FS.

Projected 2009 Cap Space: $22,000,000

Draft Order: 6

Top Needs: Depending on what players the Bengals choose to re-sign, the team needs to make major additions to the offensive line and could use a boost at defensive end. Running back and wide receiver will be two positions owner/GM Mike Brown looks at, as well.

Offseason Outlook: Cap-wise, the Bungles aren’t in bad shape but they’ve got major question marks heading into the offseason.

The team decided not to use a franchise tag on wideout T.J. Houshmandzadeh, who more than likely will jet as soon as he officially becomes a free agent at the end of the month. And considering Cincy decided to franchise kicker Shayne Graham, there’s a good possibility they’ll lose running back Cedric Benson this offseason, too.

You can already see the wheels turning in Mike Brown’s head. If he’s unable to re-sign Housh and Benson, he might look to draft one of the skill positions with the sixth overall pick, which would be a mistake. Adding a dynamic receiving prospect like Michael Crabtree or a big back like Chris “Beanie� Wells won’t get you very far if the offensive line remains a mess.

Philadelphia has emerged as a landing spot for free agent wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh and trade bait Anquan Boldin, but according to Eagles’ GM Tom Heckert the team is already set at the wideout position.

Philadelphia Eagles general manager Tom Heckert tells Fox 29 the team likely won’t be adding a free agent receiver to Donovan McNabb’s arsenal.

“It’s an easy out for everyone to say we need a wide receiver but we did get one – DeSean Jackson,” Heckert said. Jackson was a second-round pick last season.

Heckert believes Jackson is a prime threat at wide receiver and receivers won’t be an issue for the team during the free agent season.

He also said the Donovan McNabb has been at the Eagles training facility daily since the Super Bowl and that he’s been talking regularly with McNabb.

But Heckert was tight lipped about any ongoing contract talks with the star quarterback.

This could just be a smokescreen by Heckert, but then again, this hasn’t been a team that goes out and pursues top dollar wide receivers very often so maybe the GM is speaking honestly.

Free agent wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh has said that the Bengals have not contacted him about re-signing, which makes him skeptical about his return to Cincinnati.

“I really don’t know. I can’t speak for them but I haven’t heard from them which would lead me to assume that I’m out of there,” Houshmandzadeh said on Thursday.

“We got some wins at the end of the season but they were against some teams that were not very good. You can’t get any satisfaction out of that. The only satisfaction that I got was that we were still working hard every week,” Houshmandzadeh said.

When asked what the problems of the past couple seasons have been, Houshmandzadeh saw the problems more with execution than strategy.

“To me I don’t see the playbook as much of a problem as guys not getting the job done,” he said.
“Coach (Marvin) Lewis knows who to blame whether it is the players or a coach. The players go out and play but coaching is relating to the players. Most coaches know the X’s and O’s but they have to trust the players. Right now the trust and belief is not there. I can’t speak for everyone, but when you’re losing games there are going to be a lot of questions.”

“I believe the Bengals can still win, but a lot of changes have to occur,” Houshmandzadeh said.

If Houshmandzadeh is not tagged and does go into free agency, there are plenty of teams that will vie for his services. On Wednesday, he made an appearance on a radio talk show in Chicago, and followed that with a visit on the air in Philadelphia Thursday.

“You can’t talk to teams until the 27th, but I have some idea who might be interested. You have to take a look at a team and its situation and get a feel for things,” Houshmandzadeh said.

The Bengals are long overdue for a makeover and maybe Housh is one of the guys that the team parts with in order to start fresh. They’re definitely a better team with than without him, but at some point a dysfunctional team like the Bengals just has to throw its hands up and start over.

But one thing is for sure, if Cincy is going to part with such a valued piece of their offense, then they need to look at the entire roster and follow through with the cleansing process. It doesn’t make any sense to lose talent if you’re still going to be highly dysfunctional.

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Houshmandzadeh interested in joining the Eagles

Free agent wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh wouldn’t mind sporting green and white next year according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

“If the Eagles are interested in me, let’s put it like this. If they’ll be interested in me, I’ll be interested in them,” he said when asked if the Eagles would be his top choice.

There’s a chance that Houshmandzadeh could get the franchise tag from the Bengals, which would pay him $9.88 million for one season. However, NFL Network’s Adam Schefter cited a league source at the end of December who said the Bengals would not franchise the wide receiver. Per Schefter, if the Bengals want him back, they’ll attempt to sign Houshmandzadeh to a long-term deal.

“Did you watch the Eagles and the Bengals game during the season? I was just giving Andy Reid, I was giving him an interview in person,” Houshmandzadeh said. “That’s all I was doing. I was giving him a three-month interview ahead of time. That’s all.”

McNabb to Housh? That would be a pretty solid connection if the Eagles do in fact retain McNabb and make a push to sign Housh.

I think Houshmandzadeh is one of the most underrated receivers in the game. That said, it’s not unlike him to start complaining when things don’t go his way. How many times have we seen him get in the face of head coach Marvin Lewis on the sidelines during games? One could say that’s just Housh’s will to win shining through, but a head coach like Andy Reid isn’t going to put up with that. It’ll be interesting to see how this story develops. Maybe a change of scenery is exactly what Housh needs.