Earlier this offseason, the Oakland Raiders made the decision to part ways with veteran kicker Sebastian Janikowski after 18 seasons with the team. It put him on the open market for the first time in his NFL career.
With the NFL just over a month in the free agency period, Janikowski had begun to receive interest around the league with the Seattle Seahawks being the most aggressive in the pursuit of his services. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, the 40-year-old has agreed to a one-year deal to join the Seahawks.
Former Raiders’ kicker Sebastian Janikowski reached agreement on a one-year deal with the Seattle Seahawks, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 13, 2018
This move comes just a couple of days after Janikowski had held a visit with Seattle. The team had a need to address their kicking situation looking to replace Blair Walsh despite signing Jason Myers back in January. Head coach Pete Carroll had stated that wanted to bring aboard another kicker to create some competition at the position prior to the start of the 2018 season.
There is no guarantee that Janikowski will win out the starting job, but it at least puts in the position to possibly earn that spot. When healthy, he has proven to be a huge asset in the kicking game behind his strong leg.
Back in 2016, he was still quite productive, hitting on 29 of his 37 attempts while making 37 of his 39 extra point tries. This includes nailing 10 out of 11 field goals from between 40 to 49 yards out along with nailing a season-long of a 56-yards.
Janikowski may be in his 40s, but it has been typical for kickers to extend their careers well into their 40s that could lend to him playing beyond next season if he is able to continue to be an effective option. For the time being, the addition of Oakland Raiders' all-time leading scorer on a one-year deal is a low-risk, high reward move for the Seahawks.
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