For the Oakland Raiders, most questions have focused on the NFL Draft, as to whether or not owner Al Davis will surprise us all with his top-10 selection.
The front office is making different news, however, with the contract extension of kicker Sebastian Janikowski.
Janikowski has been a household name within the Raiders organization for years now. Whenever anything positive comes out of the Raiders, he is normally involved.
He is one of only three kickers to be selected in the first round; if you look at it, most fans do not think the selection has been exactly what they had hoped for.
You can not ignore the talent Janikowski has though, having the strongest leg of any kicker in the league.
This past season was probably his best in his career. He was 26-29 in field goals tries, the three misses coming from 45+ yards.
He also kicked a 61-yard field goal, the fourth longest in NFL history.
And because of that, he earned a contract making him the highest paid kicker ever in the NFL.
The reported deal is four years/$16 million dollars, with nine million guaranteed.
My first reaction is that it's a typical deal Al Davis would give to one of his better players. In some sense, the contract is a pretty high amount, more than what we could have even expected this offseason.
But then it came to me that this contract makes sense for the Raiders' long-term plans.
Over this period of time, Janikowski will still have the strong leg to make the long field goals required for the Oakland Raiders.
The pieces are certainly their on offense: young receiving core, veteran running backs, and a quarterback that still ...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Oakland Raiders
