In-limbo wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh told the Dayton Daily News in December of 2009 that he wanted to return to the Bengals. Housh appears to have changed his mind in the last nine months.
Judd Zulgad of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports that Houshmandzadeh has his sights set on the Vikings, but G.M. Rick Spielman’s club “is not interested right now.”
Houshmandzadeh has been a Z receiver, or flanker, throughout his career, moving into the slot in three-receiver sets. With Sidney Rice (hip surgery) out until midseason at the earliest, the Vikings are using Percy Harvin in a similar role. Harvin, though, has injury concerns and has yet to prove capable of being an every-down NFL receiver.
It sounds like the Vikings won’t trade for or sign the soon-to-be-released wideout now, but Houshmandzadeh could be an option if he’s still available after Week 1. If he really wants to play with Brett Favre, he’ll wait.
UPDATE: Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic reports that the Cardinals are the latest team to bow out of the Houshmandzadeh sweepstakes. Somers, citing a person familiar with the Cardinals’ thinking, reports that the team never had interest in trading for Houshmandzadeh, and characterizes it as “a non-situation.”