Word nears?
March 1st, 2009 – 4:14 PM by Judd ZulgadThe limo that brought free agent wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh to Winter Park just departed. Houshmandzadeh spent the late morning and the afternoon meeting with the Vikings and it appears he is staying in town at this point. In other words, the car IS NOT headed right down 494 and toward the airport. Keep hitting refresh and we’ll do our best to keep you updated.
28 Responses to "Word nears?"
TJ is one of the biggest free agent “household names.” The Vikings have added a star every year since Zygi took over (Jared Allen, Adrian Peterson, Steve Hutchison) so I expect him to get this deal done with TJ. Housh will sell tickets, jerseys, and help the Vikes in their quest for the ring and getting a new stadium. This seems incredibly likly to me.
That said, there’s still a lot of work to do. We need a center and at least 1 safety and a new tackle. We can’t afford to go into the draft having a glaring hole that makes us predictable. For the good of the team, we need to draft Best Player Available, not drafting needs. I like Alex Mack or Brian Cushing at #22. Mack should be looked at even if we re-sign Birk… and he’d be a great successor to Birk as well as possibly an upgrade over Herrara (not that I don’t like Herrera). Cushing would be giving Leber a run for his money in training camp (not that I don’t like Leber). Unfortuantely, the safeties suck int his draft class.
is he staying in town because of the snow storm out east?
We could be close to wrapping this thing up. Either that or they are just hashing out some details hence the reason for him staying in town.
Torgo = Dorko
First
hopefully, the Mara family private jet is grounded due to poor weather
Maybe he is going to Flying Cloud Airport to get on a chartered flight?
Is TJ IN the limo, or did it leave without him??? Judd only says that the limo left.
Maybe he is going to Flying Cloud Airport to get on a chartered flight? Just don’t lose him. I bet its hard to blog while following him?
Good reporting…now I think we need to up the ante and follow the limo and bug the hotel room…
For some reason, the word SPLASH comes to mind right now!!!
As in the Vikings making a great splash in free agency. If T.J.’s deal is all but officially signed, then I think it’s a smart move on their part. He’s a skilled second receiver who will give Mr. Rosenfels 2 solid WRs.
This also takes alot of pressure off AP.
akvikesfan,
The Vikes do have a center waiting in the wings. He is John Sullivan out of Notre Dame. The Team likes him. However I would still like to see Birk back for a couple of years at least.
66, Sullivan is fine, but Alex Mack is much better… I promise. Not to mention, if Sullivan is that good, then he’d make a pretty good guard too. Meaning we’d have a solid utility backup for three positions on our line. Bringing Birk back is always a welcome option, but more out of loyalty than anything at this point… he was downright terrible at times last year. I love the guy, and would love to see him retire a Vike, but he’s gotta play better than he did.
Johnson had far more double’s than Al Qaeda did. That contributed to Johnson’s “off season”. He consistently had a safety over the top leaving Al Qaeda in single coverage.
Torgo = Dorko
Viker and VikingJ = great minds think alike.
I hope we get TJ, but I would not overpay - $10m a year is too much.
4 years, $32m to $35m - something like $12m guarantee is enuf.
Same w/ Birk- try and get him back, but do not overpay for a mid-30 lineman.
akvikesfan,
I agree that birk has lost a step however his role in mentoring a young center can’t be underestimated. However, the Vikes need to address the ORT position in a big way. I could see the Vikes go with ORT in round 1 and C/G in round 2.
Please Plaease sign TJ
We won’t overpay,unless it’s the kind of deal we seem to favor(lots of money upfront)
I think we sign TJ. I can live with Tyrell Johnson at Saftey. At Center, I hope we resign Birk, or use our second round pick for that. As for RT, draft Michael Oher, or Andre Smith if they fall to us. Both were considered top 5 in the draft at one point.
On another note-it doesn’t sound good for the two NFL players lost at sea off the Florida coast…
Birk lost a step in ‘07. He lsot about three steps in ‘08. I think there is value to bringing him back and treating him right, just because other great veteran players may look at that and say “I want to play for Minnie, they take care of their guys.” But froma football standpoint, Birk allowed way too much pressure up the middle on the QB, and contributed to our inability to run a shotgun/2-minute offense by have errors occur on shotgun snaps.
Alex Mack will be a 15 year pplayer and a perrenial pro bowler. A great 1st round pick in my opinion.
Torgo = Dorko
If I was Mr. Wilf, I would spend as little as possible on FA.
Why should he spend money, when you (the residents of the State of Minnesota) are making is clear to him that you will not support a new stadium.
Mr. Wilf deserve a return on his investment.
“If you build it, they will come” is a fantasy in a baseball movie. It will not work with the political knuckleheads in St. Paul
I would no take Andre Smith even if he fell to #22. He has way to many character issues and red flags. He has trouble/bust written a// over him.
This was just posted on rotoworld.com:
The Eagles are believed to have dropped out of the running for free agent T.J. Houshmandzadeh.
Philadelphia showed only light interest, perhaps to appease Donovan McNabb, and appears to be comfortable with Jason Avant and Reggie Brown behind Kevin Curtis and DeSean Jackson. Housh remains in contract talks with Minnesota.
Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press
[…] Access Vikings: – […]
[…] Access Vikings: » Blog Archive » Word nears? […]
[…] UPDATE: Joe Reedy of the Cincinnati Enquirer is reporting that Houshmandzadeh is planning on sticking to his deadline of making his decision this evening, and Judd Zulgad is reporting that it looks like he’s staying in town. The limo that brought him to Winter Park earlier has departed, and it appears as though “it is NOT headed down 494 and towards the airport.” […]
[…] The Vikings have added a star every year since Zygi took over (Jared Allen, Adrian Peterson, Steve Hutchison) so I expect him to get this deal done with TJ. Housh will sell tickets , jerseys, and help the Vikes in their quest for the …More […]
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