Schefter: T.J. Houshmandzadeh Signs With Baltimore Ravens

Report: Minnesota Vikings Have No Interest In T.J. Houshmandzadeh

Earlier we noted an NFL.com report that linked the Minnesota Vikings to Seattle Seahawks wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh, who is on the trading block.

Judd Zulgad and Chip Scoggins of StarTribune.com report that the Vikings are not interested.

The Seattle Seahawks are preparing to sever ties with veteran receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh either by trading or releasing him. But don’t look for the Vikings to get involved. Although they courted Houshmandzadeh as a free agent in March 2009 before he signed with Seattle, the Vikings are not interested this time around, according to NFL sources.

Are The Minnesota Vikings Interested In T.J. Houshmandzadeh?

Jason La Canfora of NFL.com links three teams as potential future homes for Seahawks wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh now that the Seahawks have decided to cut ties with him. The Vikings are one of those teams.

Possible landing spots for Houshmandzadeh include the Oakland Raiders, Washington Redskins and Minnesota Vikings.

Houshmandzadeh is coming off a solid season and would be another great veteran weapon for Vikings quarterback Brett Favre

Greg Camarillo Surprised By Trade, But Says It Is 'A Great Opportunity'

The Minnesota Vikings surprised a lot of people on Tuesday by trading for unheralded Miami Dolphins wide receiver Greg Camarillo – including Greg Camarillo.

“And bam, I’m in Minnesota,” Camarillo said on Thursday, shortly after completing his first practice with the Vikings.

“Twenty-four hours later, I’m living in a new city.”

The 28-year-old receiver said he had “no idea” the Dolphins were open to trading him until he found out on Wednesday he’d been shipped north for cornerback Benny Sapp.

While it was surprising that Camarillo was acquired, Vikings coach Brad Childress says there should be no surprises about the receiver’s hands.

“He’s done both,” Vikings coach Brad Childress said. “He’s played outside. He’s played in the slot. We’ll have to start him slowly — you can’t put everything on his plate right away. But we’d like for all our guys to be able to interchange.”

If there’s one thing Camarillo (6-foot-1, 190 pounds) is known for, it’s his hands, which Childress described as “A-plus.”

Camarillo seems to agree with that assessment, though it is more out of necessity than anything else.

“I’ve always felt that if the quarterback puts it near me, I’m going to grab it,” Camarillo said. “That’s the only way to build confidence with the quarterback — if he throws you the ball, you make (the catch). If you drop one here, you drop one here, the quarterback’s not going to look for you all the time. You come down with the ball, he’ll build confidence and build that chemistry and help the offense move.”

Vikings Trade Benny Sapp To Dolphins For WR Greg Camarillo

The Minnesota Vikings won’t have Sidney Rice on the field to start the season, and may not even have Percy Harvin fully healthy, but the team is making sure it will have enough wide receivers for Brett Favre to throw to by the time the regular season comes around.

The Vikings traded defensive back Benny Sapp to the Miami Dolphins for possession receiver Greg Camarillo Wednesday, just a day after they officially came to terms with Javon Walker.

Camarillo, 28, has 105 catches for 1,165 yards and two touchdowns over the past two seasons with the Dolphins despite blowing out a knee on Nov. 23, 2008 — three days after signing a three-year, $6 million contract extension.

Vikings' Interest In Walker Draws Questions, Criticism

ESPN’s Kevin Seifert doesn’t know why the Minnesota Vikings are interested in signing the “washed-up” Javon Walker, as Seifert’s ESPN colleague Adam Schefter first reported earlier today. In this blog post, he outlines why the pending Walker signing puzzles him. Seifert says “there are dozens of younger and faster […] receivers available.” And though Walker’s best years did indeed come with Brett Favre as his quarterback, Seifert notes that they split acrimoniously:

Favre publicly and extensively criticized Walker for holding out from a mandatory minicamp during a contract dispute. Walker eventually sought and received a trade in 2006 in part because of Favre’s comments.

But if Walker and Favre put aside their differences, Walker poses minimal risk for the Vikings, whose receivers are injury-ridden. If he’s fully recovered from the Las Vegas mugging ordeal in 2008, he could be useful.

Vikings Near Deal With Javon Walker

ESPN's Adam Schefter reports the Minnesota Vikings "are planning on signing" free-agent wide receiver Javon Walker, who teamed with quarterback Brett Favre with the Green Bay Packers earlier this decade. "Walker experienced his greatest success with Favre as his quarterback," Schefter writes, "and Minnesota is hoping for more of the same."

Walker, 31, spent the last two years with the Oakland Raiders, and was decidedly unproductive, with just 15 catches in 11 games.