Seattle Seahawks: 3 Bargains to target in 2019 NFL free agency

Jason Myers, K

Seattle can’t bear another year with Sebastian Janikowski. Luckily for the Seahawks, the 41-year old kicker only signed a one-year deal with the team last offseason. That means it’s time for the team to go after someone younger and more accurate.

Janikowski went 22-of-27 on field goals and 48-of-51 on extra point attempts in 2018. Those numbers aren’t horrible, but the veteran kicker hurt his leg in Seattle’s Wild Card playoff game, which significantly limited the team’s options as they did not have a replacement kicker.

Whether the injury was the cause of poor preparation, age or was simply a freak occurrence is unknown. Either way, the Seahawks shouldn’t have to worry about their kicker seizing up in the most important game of the year. Myers, at 27 years old, seems like the right direction for Seattle to go.

In 2018, Myers had his best season as a professional. He made 33 of his 36 field goal attempts (91.7 percent) and 30 of his 33 extra point tries (90.9 percent). Those totals were enough to get Myers voted to the Pro Bowl. What’s most attractive about Myers though is that he made six of his seven field goal attempts from fifty yards or more. That kind of range can change games.

Myers is coming off of a one-year, $705,000 deal with the New York Jets. After his 2018 performance, he’ll easily command more than that in free agency. However, we saw the Pittsburgh Steelers sign one-year wonder Chris Boswell to a four-year deal worth just over $16 million last offseason and that blew up in their faces. I think Myers will get a smaller deal worth maybe $3 million per year on average. For a reliable kicker, that’s a good deal.