One of the pieces of news that went kind of unnoticed yesterday was the Bengals' decision to use their franchise tag on kicker Shayne Graham. What this means is that WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh is all but gone from Cincinnati already.
Adam Schefter, of NFL.com and the NFL Network, believes that Housh will land with one of 6 potential teams. Those teams he lists are the Eagles, Seahawks, 49ers, Titans, Ravens, and Dolphins. Yes - our Dolphins.
But you can count me as one of those who isn't particularly excited about that. To me, it doesn't make sense to bring in a player who is going to be 32 years old and is going to probably demand more money than he is worth.
And despite all the accolades Houshmandzadeh regularly receives, I'm just not a big fan of his. We don't know if he can thrive as a #1 receiver. Remember - he's always had Chad Johnson as the true go-to guy. And over the past 3 seasons (of which he has played in 45 games), Housh only has 8 100-yard games. And in that same span, T.J. is averaging just 10.6 yards per catch. Is that the kind of production you want out of a big-money free agent?
But the main reason I'm against the Dolphins targeting Houshmandzadeh is because it would go against everything the Dolphins are trying to do. Here is a quote from Jeff Ireland that he said during a radio interview earlier this week:
"When you trade the picks away you are probably trading it for a player who needs a new contract, or wants a new contract. And your giving up a draft pick, which would get you someone younger and cheaper."
Young and cheap. That's what the Dolphins are looking for. That's how they still intend on building this team. Houshmandzadeh is neither of the two.
So why bring on board a soon-to-be 32 year old at this stage of the building process?