When the Oakland Raiders told 39-year-old kicker Sebastian Janikowski he wasn’t going to be brought back, we assumed that meant the 18-year veteran might have to just call it a career. Well, we couldn’t have been more wrong.
Janikowski’s agent has a great quote about why his client isn’t interested in retiring any time soon.
Sebastian Janikowski fully intends on playing next season, as @GehlkenNFL said. From his agent, Paul Healy:
"At 39, Sebastian is too young to retire."
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) February 15, 2018
In reality, age may not be the biggest reason Janikowski ends up watching the 2018 season from his couch. In addition to the fact he missed all of last year with a back injury, the simple truth is that he’s just not a very accurate kicker by today’s standards.
Consider this: Janikowski’s career average field-goal percentage is just over 80 percent. His best season ever, he hit on 91.2 percent of his attempts. In his final year with Oakland, he managed to convert 82.9 percent of his attempts.
Now consider that, in 2017, eight placekickers beat Janikowski’s career best, and 19 of them were above his 2016 mark.
We know kickers can be productive into their 40s. Just look at Adam Vinatieri as the latest example.
Unfortunately, being an 80-percent kicker in today’s NFL is a quick way to find oneself out of a job. So while Janikowski will almost assuredly land a spot on some team’s training camp roster, it’s hard to imagine he’ll end up on the final roster when it’s all said and done.