Yesterday, the Oakland Raiders made Sebastian Janikowski the highest paid place kicker in NFL history, proving once again why they are the biggest joke in professional sports. The two sides agreed to a 4 year, $16 million contract, with $9 million guaranteed. What makes this even more of an abomination is that Oakland already has the highest paid punter in NFL history. The Raiders signed punter Shane Lechler to the same exact deal (4 years, $16 mil, $9 mil guaranteed) last year. For those of you who don’t like to do math, that’s $18 million dollars tied up in kickers!
Now to be fair, both Raiders kickers are very good at what they do. Janikowski is in the top 3 placekickers in the NFL, and Lechler might just be the best punter in NFL history. But to have $18 million in guaranteed money tied up in kickers is unheard of. Really, Oakland? You couldn’t find a better way to spend that dough?
Here are some possible alternatives that you maybe should have considered first: pay a linebacker who can tackle… or an offensive lineman who can block… or how about a quarterback that doesn’t look like he just ate his left tackle.
If you think about it, Oakland has the right philosophy here. It’s a good thing to lock up your best assets (please take note, Patriots). However, it’s a bad thing when your best assets are kickers. If Jesus Christ himself was taking snaps under center for the black and silver, I’m convinced that even he couldn’t lead them to a winning record. Al Davis needs to hurry up and kick the bucket already so this once proud franchise can get its collective head out of its ass.