The Oakland Raiders signed wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh to a contract Tuesday, reuniting him with his former quarterback Carson Palmer.
Palmer and Houshmandzadeh were teammates in Cincinnati for six seasons and had their greatest success when they were together.
Houshmandzadeh, 34, had been out of the league since playing with Baltimore last season but had been working out in Southern California with Palmer before the Raiders (4-3) acquired the quarterback last month.
Houshmandzadeh signed a five-year $40 million contract with $15 million guaranteed with the Seattle Seahawks in 2009. He had 79 receptions for 911 yards and three touchdowns for the Seahawks but was released prior to the 2010 season.
Houshmandzadeh is also familiar with Raiders coach Hue Jackson, who was the receivers coach in Cincinnati for three years during Houshmandzadeh’s tenure there.
Houshmandzadeh averaged 89 catches over a five-year span in Cincinnati. His best season came in 2007, when he caught a career-high 112 passes for 1,143 yards and 12 touchdowns.
“He’s a guy that made a lot of catches when it was sticky,” Jackson said Monday before Houshmandzadeh signed. “With people draped all over him, he made some uncommon plays for us in Cincinnati. That’s all I can go by in Cincinnati. I did not coach him in Seattle, I did not coach him in Baltimore.”
PATRIOT CHARGED
The agent for New England Patriots receiver Julian Edelman says his client will “vigorously” fight a charge that he groped a woman during a Halloween party at a Boston nightclub.
At a brief court hearing Tuesday, a not guilty plea was entered for Edelman to a charge of indecent assault and battery and he was released on personal recognizance. He is due back in court Jan. 10.
“The charges will be fought vigorously within the court system, instead of a rush to judgment elsewhere. We have no further comment beyond that,” agent Don Yee said in a statement released later by the Patriots, who declined to comment on the case.
EXTRA POINTS
Detroit star defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh met with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and his staff. Suh requested the meeting to discuss his penalties and fines. “I have gained a better understanding how I need to continue to play the game to help my team win,” Suh said in a statement. ... Gov. Mark Dayton ruled out a tax increase as a way to help pay for a new Minnesota Vikings stadium, blowing a $350 million hole in the team’s plan to build a $1.1 billion home in the suburbs north of the Twin Cities. ... Griffen Kramer, a backup quarterback at Thousand Oaks High in Southern California, died Sunday night at a friend’s home. He is the son of Erik Kramer, who was an NFL quarterback for 10 seasons, mostly with the Chicago Bears. ... The NFL has overturned the $5,000 fine that Baltimore Ravens center Matt Birk received for removing a microphone he was wearing in a game against the New York Jets. The NFL requires centers and guards to wear microphones, but Birk said his was uncomfortable so he removed it. ... The medical examiner’s office ruled the death of a man at the home of Texans defensive end Antonio Smith an accidental drowning. The man was a friend of Smith.
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