T.J. Houshmandzadeh Signs With the Seattle Seahawks, Providing Instant Offense

The Seattle Seahawks have pulled a magic trick in the free-agent market, by inking wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh. 

Early reports from ESPN say the deal will pay him $40 million over five-years, with $15 million of it guaranteed. It's a surprising move by the Seahawks, who don't normally make big splashes in the free agent market, but opened the check book to steal away the Cincinnati Bengals No. 1 option. 

Now, Seahawk quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is going to have a huge asset to work with in the 2009 NFL season.

The signing of Houshmandzadeh is a huge acquisition for two reasons. 

The first is that Seattle has needed a big-time receiver to slide into the offense for some time now. While the hope was that Deion Branch could do it when he came over from New England, he simply became part of the scenery. 

The second reason this is so big, is because the Seahawks have the fourth pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, and it has long been rumored that they would go after a wide-receiver with that pick. 

If they stick with that idea, and bring in Michael Crabtree from Texas Tech, it could completely revamp the offense for Seattle.

With an offense consisting of John Carlson at tight end, Julius Jones at running back, and the acquisition of two top-notch wide receivers, the Seahawks could be looking at a real run for the AFC West title. 

An injured Hasselbeck really hampered the Seahawks in 2008, costing them quite a few games as they scrambled to figure out what to do with back-up quarterback Seneca Wallace. 

Now with Mike Holmgren gone as coach, a couple of high picks in the NFL Draft, and a key acquisition in Houshmandzadeh, the Seahawks are looking (on paper) like they can be the competitive team again that they were predicted to being the 2008 campaign. 

With a strong defense in place already, the Seahawks knew that they needed to shore up the offense, and may have really succeeded in that regard.

Houshmandzadeh put up some impressive numbers in 2008, even though the Cincinnati Bengals were pretty terrible. 

He had 92 catches for 904 yards, and four touchdowns, serving as a great option for the offense. 

Now with a big contract, and hopes that he can repeat his 112-catch season from 2007, Seattle fans are definitely going to have something new to root for on offense. 

If Houshmandzadeh can be someone that defenses have to double cover at times, it will really open the field for everything else the Seahawks have—catapulting this team back up into the NFC playoff chase.

Source: ESPN