The Oakland Raiders have signed free agent veteran wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh.
Houshmandzadeh was selected in the 7th round of the 2001 NFL Draft out of Oregon State and played eight seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals before playing one year each with the Seattle Seahawks and Baltimore Ravens.
Throughout his 10 NFL seasons, Houshmandzadeh has caught 616 passes for 7,091 yards (11.5 avg) for 43 touchdowns. The veteran has recorded two 1,000-yard seasons and four additional seasons of over 900 yards.
"I see a guy who played for me before, who is very strong working inside, who's a veteran presence on this football team, knows how to play the type of tempo I'm that looking for with this offense, and I think he can really be a mentor for some of our younger players," said Head Coach Hue Jackson in an interview on The Grant Napear Show on KHTK 1140 AM. "Here's a guy who has been in the league for 10 years that's seen probably every secondary coverage known to man and how linebackers play. He knows how to work really diligently underneath and how guys need to sink their hips and get out of breaks and how to prepare. I think our guys are getting that and are working at it, but I think when you have another pro in the room who has done it at a high level real consistently, I think the guys tend to follow that guy just a little bit more."
