Sebastian Janikowski has kicked many field goals against the Los Angeles Chargers in his long career. Could he now be kicking field goals for them?
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the Chargers have scheduled a meeting with the kicker who has spent his entire 17-year career with the Oakland Raiders.
Former Raiders' K Sebastian Janikowski is expected to visit the Los Angeles Chargers, per source. Janikowski could go from Oakland to LA.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 14, 2018
Janikowski sat out the entire 2017 season with an injury as the Raiders transitioned to Giorgio Tavecchio. With a new coaching staff coming in, the Raiders chose to move on from the veteran Janikowski, who possesses one of the strongest kicking legs in NFL history. That helped him become a first-round pick (yes, you read that right) in the 2000 NFL draft.
Now, even at 40 years old, Janikowski and the kicking-challenged Chargers could be a natural fit for one another.
The Chargers will look at all kicking options, so the meeting with Janikowski could just be for exploratory purposes. Finding a kicker in the draft remains an option and the team still has Nick Rose and Roberto Aguayo on the roster.
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Janikowski will likely only sign with a team that is going to give him a clear shot to be the starting kicker. Those waters may be too muddy in Los Angeles, as it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Chargers carry three or even four kickers on their preseason roster.
For his career, Janikowski has made 80.4 percent of his career field goals, including booting 55 from over 50 yards. The lefty was often brought out to try kicks from beyond 60 yards and if he signs with the Chargers and if you go to a game and watch warmups, it won’t be rare to see him make one from over 70 yards.
Right now, those are just “ifs” as this is just a meeting. But as I speculated earlier this offseason, a union between the Bolts and Janikowski makes plenty of sense.