It’s official: T.J. leaves town
March 2nd, 2009 – 10:15 AM by Judd ZulgadWe are no longer working on a tip that T.J. Houshmandzadeh has left town. We are now confirming that the free-agent wide receiver is no longer in the Twin Cities and was on a 9:35 flight last night to Los Angeles.
As we said in the blog posted moments ago, this does not mean the Vikings are out of the running. But it certainly isn’t a good sign. Houshmandzadeh was supposed to sleep on his decision at a Minneapolis hotel. But it appears he had second thoughts and decided to depart.
Pure speculation on my part is that if Houshmandzadeh went back to Los Angeles that’s a good sign if you’re the Seattle Seahawks. Of course, yesterday I wrote that Seattle might be out of this race. Anyway, the news is that T.J. is no longer in the Twin Cities.
More information: Good point from someone in the comments section and I meant to put this in. Houshmandzadeh lives in the L.A. area so he was going home. As for the Seattle angle, I’m thinking that if he was going to sign with the Vikings he would have stayed in Minnesota. If he was going to sign with the Bengals, perhaps he would have flown to Cincinnati. But since he lives in the L.A. area, that might give Seattle the edge because it’s not a long flight. Pure speculation on my part.
66 Responses to "It’s official: T.J. leaves town"
Who is T.J. Houshmandzadeh ?
FIRE CHILDRESS NOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Neat. So, Jay Cutler huh? What is up with that?
1st, dang it!!!!!!!!
Pony up an extra million per year and get it done. Then resign Birk and 11 wins, here we come!
I agree… sweeten the pot and get him back.
that cant be good news if he left town,is it?
The Vikings had the lowest of the 3 deals on the table and chance’s are they tried to play the whole “Come play for a contender” angle. T.J is looking for the most money and will end up back in Cincy.
I woudn’t come play for your dufuss of a coach if you paid me $30 million a year.
Does Carson Palmer live in CA? (former USC Trojan)
TJ may have spent the night with him, going over the Bungals angle.
Not sure why you think flying to L.A. is a good sign for the Seahawks. I do agree that it isn’t a good sign for the Vikes, but this tidbit is crucial: Houshmanzadeh lives in Cerritos, which is just south of L.A.
So he went home.
That hurt, Jay. The way we got Berrian is our offer blew everyone else out of the water. If this guy is indeed another Cris Carter he’s worth topping all other offers. Bernard got six years $43.4 millyuns.
Oh man…the possibility of Jay Cutler makes me very excited!!! Not sure if it is a possibility, but it look slike he wants out of Denver. Judd/Chip…what are the reasistic chances in us seeing the Vikings sending a private jet to Denver…especially if the TJ sweepstakes are over?
Chip/Judd anyone got a call into his agent??? Anyone at Winter Park?
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Nice reporting, Judd. TJ left half a day ago? What else you guys have to do, eat at Matty Birk’s place, see if he picks up his hat?
According to Wikipedia Palmer lives in Laguna Beach, CA
Why didn’t we trade for Carson Palmer?
FIRE CHILDRESS NOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“Looks bad”?
It IS bad. We lost.
I’m sure money was a big part but I’m now thinking that Wilf still doesn’t get it and he let Childress in on the negotiations.
Can you imagine a SoCal guy sitting there listening to Childress describe his plan to machinate the Vikings into a Kick-Ass offense?
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We don’t got him…
At 1st when I read “TJ leaves town” I got excited, thinkg TJ was Tarvaris Jackson…..
FIRE CHILDRESS NOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooocccccchhhhhhhhh! that hurts! now I”M MAD!
Palmer is in South CA working out and it’s pretty likely that is where TJ went. Looks like he will probably stay a Bengal.
“Palmer, who is working out in California, has been vocal behind the scenes this week, pressing the team and even Houshmandzadeh to stay.”
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090302/SPT02/903020325/1062/SPT
Do you think TJoke could convince a WR to stay/come to Minnesota? yea, me either.
FIRE CHILDRESS NOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey Judd, do you think we at least get a decision today? It would be nice for the Vikings, so they could now know where to turn this offseason.
I hope there is a decision made but Houshmandzadeh said he would make a decision Sunday and it never happened.
It would be nice to get a decision so I can get back to work.
Dude’s a big fat liar!
Anyone have thought on what it would cost (seriously) to get Cutler here?
Why would he spend so much time in Minnesota, only to leave and perhaps not sign a deal? Something is not adding up.
He is tempted to play here because of the pieces we have in place. He would have been smart to keep quiet about playing with AP, probably gave the Vikes confidence to low-ball him.
I would think the new coach in Denver would consider a bunch of high draft choices for Cutler. We should get a three-way going with Kansas City so McDaniels can get his old QB at New England, Matt Cassel, to play for the Broncos.
He probably went home last night to talk it over with his family and make the choice from home rather then a hotel room.
The time he spent in Minnesota shows he really could have been serious about playing there or it was to drive up Cincy offer. He said it was all about the money.
AAaaaaaaaaarg!
This isn’t even fun anymore…
You’re right. I’m almost bored with this already. TJ please just make a decision.
Great, we have enough money, but we won’t spend enough to get somebody that can help our franchise out a lot. I say we go after Laverneous Coles or Marvin Harrison
Here’s a change of pace, so we’re not all sitting around nervously awaiting TJ’s decision:
“Samari Rolle says the handwriting is on the wall and expects to be released by the Ravens. Taking it a step further, he says he doesn’t even want to be there anymore. Says Rolle, “Honestly, I don’t want to play in Baltimore anymore because I feel I’m not wanted.” “
Peterson + Housh? + Cutler + Berrian + Shiancoe = TITLE!… - Childress = Maybe Playoffs? 
Not that it really matters but, after checking some national message boards, it seems the Seahawks and Bengal fans don’t really want him, just us Vikes fans.
It is possible he wanted to go home and talk to his wife in person and make the decision there. Everything is speculation right now its not like he flew to Cincinatti or Seattle. It doesnt add up why he would spend that much time here if there was no interest in signing. Maybe he wanted his family with when he signs?
[…] Wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh (I’m never going to be able to spell that name on my own…kinda like Mississippi) left Minnesota last night without a contract, and headed home to Los Angeles, StarTribune.com has reported. […]
Judd, your “it’s not a long flight” speculation doesn’t hold much water. LA is pert’near as close to Minneapolis as it is to Seattle.
Judd or Chip are the vikings talking trying to linup any other WR like Laveranues Coles,Devery Henderson, Nate Washington
If T.J. is willing to take less money for a chance to win a championship, then he’s the kind of player we want here in Minnesota. If not, then let him go, we don’t need him. We need team players, not just guys looking for the big $$$.
I think former Viking great Ahmad Rashad should help Tajour Houshmenzedah Jr. to see what a great place Minnesota is to play. Maybe point out an old Iranian proverb:
“A blind man who sees is better than a sighted man who is blind.”
they shoud get Mark Tauscher in here right now and sign him ot is are biggest need
Zygi Wilf is typically not cheap. I hope they have not blown a solid opportunity to get a great possession receiver by short changing him. But, if he signs for less, then Wilf and Co. are geniuses!
What is all this title and championship talk when referring to courting free agents? We won 4 games by blatant wrong calls by the ref’s that ended up being the difference in the outcome and another one by a missed field goal. We got the bounces to go our way last year, but it doesn’t mean we are some championship caliber team. We still have no QB, a bad O-line, pedestrian receiving core (Berrian is a #2 being paid as a #1) and mediocre to poor secondary. Oh and we also have Childress. Enough said.
Oops, TJ House or Housh, aw who cares, just call him TJ Maxx, is not Muslim like Rashad. He is a Sikh. Their religion requires them to have long hair, as in this photo:
From a highly reliable source the numbers are:
Cinci 5 yrs 40m 12m guar
Seattle 3 yrs 27m 9m guar
Vikings 3 yrs 24m 10m guar
Back to Cinci he goes…
Why would he waste time visiting other teams, the offer from cincy has been on the table from before the start of free agency. look for the vikings to up the offer a little and land him. After publicly making the comments about playing with peterson, if the vikes upped the offer to the 27 to 30 million over 3 years.
[…] Access Vikings: – […]
[…] With reports now surfacing that free agent wide receiver TJ Houshmandzadeh did indeed leave Minnesota last night in route to Los Angeles, his future team is still uncertain. […]
Hey SlickRick,
I think your mileage calcuation is a little off. Check out:
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/nflnation?tag=09%20free%20agency
Seattle is 576 miles closer to LA than Minneapolis is. That is an hour less in flight time. If you figure a round trip, you can double both those calculations. Also consider that Seattle is in the same timezone a LA. I dont think “pert’near” is an accurate assesment.
Here is a more accurate link to the mileage assesment: http://myespn.go.com/blogs/nflnation/0-6-35/Houshmandzadeh-willing-to-go-extra-miles-.html
[…] For example, these two paragraphs from the Access Vikings blog at StarTribune.com, where they reported that Houshmandzadeh was indeed aboard a 9:35 flight to Los Angeles last night. Pure speculation on my part is that if Houshmandzadeh went back to Los Angeles that’s a good sign if you’re the Seattle Seahawks. Of course, yesterday I wrote that Seattle might be out of this race. Anyway, the news is that T.J. is no longer in the Twin Cities. […]
[…] For example, these two paragraphs from the Access Vikings blog at StarTribune.com, where they reported that Houshmandzadeh was indeed aboard a 9:35 flight to Los Angeles last night. Pure speculation on my part is that if Houshmandzadeh went back to Los Angeles that’s a good sign if you’re the Seattle Seahawks. Of course, yesterday I wrote that Seattle might be out of this race. Anyway, the news is that T.J. is no longer in the Twin Cities.More information: Good point from someone in the comments section and I meant to put this in. Houshmandzadeh lives in the L.A. area so he was going home. As for the Seattle angle, I’m thinking that if he was going to sign with the Vikings he would have stayed in Minnesota. If he was going to sign with the Bengals, perhaps he would have flown to Cincinnati. But since he lives in the L.A. area, that might give Seattle the edge because it’s not a long flight. Pure speculation on my part. […]
[…] Access Vikings: » Blog Archive » It’s official: T.J. leaves town […]
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We are no longer working on a tip that T.J. Houshmandzadeh has left town. We are now confirming that […]
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We are no longer working on a tip that T.J. Houshmandzadeh has left town. We are now confirming that […]
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