Jackson May Have Inadvertently Steered Houshmandzadeh to Seattle

Tarvaris Jackson can't even catch a break during the offseason when he's seven months away from the nearest interception. The Vikings sometimes-starting quarterback has struggled with consistency during his three-year career, which explains why he's had to share the gig with Gus Frerotte, and why the team recently traded for Sage Rosenfels.

But according to a reader email ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert posted on his blog, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, who was seriously considering signing with the Vikings, decided against it after meeting T-Jack.

I'm a HUGE Vikings fan living in Los Angeles. One of my employees and his brother know T.J. Houshmandzadeh. When asked why he passed on Minnesota, he told them that it was all good until they brought Tarvaris Jackson into talk to him (and basically signal to him that he is their starter). ..."

Seifert acknowledges that you should be careful when reprinting e-mails, but notes that the "information is verified"; John Clayton reported the "same sequence of events last Saturday on ESPN radio," and Houshmandzadeh admitted that the "presence of quarterback Matt Hasselbeck in Seattle played a big part in his decision." So there you go.

Who knows if T.J. would've been more amenable to playing with Rosenfels; either way, the Star Tribune's Judd Zulgad makes an important observation: "What isn't clear is how Jackson's presence was sold to Houshmandzadeh. Did the Vikings explain that one of their quarterbacks simply wasn't in town and here was a guy who would compete for the position? Or was Houshmandzadeh told that Jackson likely would be the starter and so the two should talk?"

Seems like an important distinction and probably has something to do with why free agents haven't been beating down the door to play in Minnesota.