NFL teams looking for a kicker can start considering Sebastian Janikowski. The Raiders have informed the long-time veteran that he’s not in their plans for 2018, according to an ESPN report.
Janikowski, who’ll be 40 next month, spent all of last year on injured reserve. The Raiders intend to cut him loose, making him an unrestricted free agent, a source tells Adam Schefter.
It’s not surprising. I expect some teams will want to kick the tires, but I have long considered Janikowski to be one of the most overrated players at that position. He’s been one of the highest-paid kickers for years, but he’s never been quite as accurate as the top-tier options.
Over the last five years, Janikowski has converted under 80 percent of his field goals, worst in the league among the 25 kickers with at least 100 attempts. Lower even than the likes of Blair Walsh, Mike Nugent and Randy Bullock.
| FIELD GOAL ACCURACY (last 5 years) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Player | FG | FGA | Pct |
| Stephen Gostkowski | 170 | 186 | 91.40% |
| Justin Tucker | 172 | 191 | 90.05% |
| Steven Hauschka | 126 | 140 | 90.00% |
| Adam Vinatieri | 146 | 163 | 89.57% |
| Robbie Gould | 117 | 131 | 89.31% |
| Matt Bryant | 135 | 153 | 88.24% |
| Matt Prater | 129 | 147 | 87.76% |
| Dan Bailey | 125 | 143 | 87.41% |
| Dan Carpenter | 109 | 126 | 86.51% |
| Graham Gano | 142 | 166 | 85.54% |
| Nick Novak | 118 | 138 | 85.51% |
| Mason Crosby | 125 | 147 | 85.03% |
| Ryan Succop | 112 | 132 | 84.85% |
| Greg Zuerlein | 127 | 150 | 84.67% |
| Kai Forbath | 99 | 117 | 84.62% |
| Phil Dawson | 131 | 155 | 84.52% |
| Chandler Catanzaro | 103 | 122 | 84.43% |
| Cairo Santos | 90 | 107 | 84.11% |
| Nick Folk | 111 | 133 | 83.46% |
| Randy Bullock | 101 | 122 | 82.79% |
| Caleb Sturgis | 111 | 137 | 81.02% |
| Mike Nugent | 101 | 125 | 80.80% |
| Brandon McManus | 92 | 114 | 80.70% |
| Blair Walsh | 119 | 149 | 79.87% |
| Sebastian Janikowski | 90 | 113 | 79.65% |
Janikowski has hit a lot of long-range field goals during his career, but he’s actually been overrated in that regard as well – not any more accurate on those kicks than most of the league’s other kickers.
Over the past five years, for example, 33 kickers have attempted at least 10 field goals from 50-plus yards. Only three of those kickers have been less accurate on those long-range kicks.
| 50-YARD FIELD GOALS (last 5 years) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Player | FG | FGA | Pct |
| Steven Hauschka | 12 | 14 | 85.71% |
| Stephen Gostkowski | 16 | 20 | 80.00% |
| Josh Brown | 8 | 10 | 80.00% |
| Adam Vinatieri | 23 | 29 | 79.31% |
| Matt Prater | 28 | 36 | 77.78% |
| Robbie Gould | 14 | 18 | 77.78% |
| Matt Bryant | 24 | 32 | 75.00% |
| Phil Dawson | 18 | 25 | 72.00% |
| Dan Bailey | 22 | 31 | 70.97% |
| Justin Tucker | 29 | 43 | 67.44% |
| Dan Carpenter | 14 | 21 | 66.67% |
| Nick Folk | 11 | 17 | 64.71% |
| Josh Scobee | 7 | 11 | 63.64% |
| Mason Crosby | 15 | 24 | 62.50% |
| Kai Forbath | 10 | 16 | 62.50% |
| Graham Gano | 12 | 20 | 60.00% |
| Josh Lambo | 6 | 10 | 60.00% |
| Greg Zuerlein | 17 | 29 | 58.62% |
| Wil Lutz | 7 | 12 | 58.33% |
| Patrick Murray | 7 | 12 | 58.33% |
| Nick Novak | 11 | 19 | 57.89% |
| Blair Walsh | 14 | 25 | 56.00% |
| Randy Bullock | 6 | 11 | 54.55% |
| Connor Barth | 6 | 11 | 54.55% |
| Caleb Sturgis | 13 | 24 | 54.17% |
| Chandler Catanzaro | 7 | 13 | 53.85% |
| Cairo Santos | 7 | 13 | 53.85% |
| Jason Myers | 10 | 19 | 52.63% |
| Brandon McManus | 11 | 21 | 52.38% |
| Sebastian Janikowski | 13 | 25 | 52.00% |
| Ryan Succop | 9 | 19 | 47.37% |
| Mike Nugent | 6 | 14 | 42.86% |
| Dustin Hopkins | 5 | 13 | 38.46% |
Way back when, the Raiders used a first-round pick on Janikowski. In hindsight, the smarter move would have been to simply hang onto Phil Dawson (who was on their roster in 1998 and has had a far more impressive career).
—Ian Allan