Sebastian Janikowski can hit the open market next month, bringing his 18-year run with the Oakland Raiders to a close. According to reports, Janikowski was informed he would not be on the roster in 2018 as Jon Gruden — the coach who drafted Janikowski — returns to the sideline. Janikowski agreed to a pay cut in 2017 and then was placed on injured reserve without playing in a regular season game. He turns 40 on March 2.Janikowski has battled back problems and the Raiders considered parting with the 2000 first-round draft pick during training camp last summer. He will leave Oakland as the Raiders’ all-time leader in games played and holds the NFL record for 50-plus-yard field goals (55).Redskins’ Cravens reinstated by NFL after sitting out 2017After considering retirement and sitting out the entire 2017 season, Washington Redskins safety Su’a Cravens was reinstated Tuesday by the NFL to active status from the team’s reserve/left squad list.Cravens applied for reinstatement with the NFL earlier this week. With it granted, he is now eligible to play again, but there remains the question of whether or not his team still wants him back on the active roster after he stepped away from the Redskins shortly before the start of the 2017 season.Cravens’ agent, Fadde Mikhail, announced in a December statement that Cravens had been cleared to resume all football activities after being treated for post-concussion syndrome and intended to return for 2018.Cravens, 22, battled a series of injuries through his first year and a half in the NFL, including a concussion, a biceps injury and a knee issue that required surgery to trim his meniscus. He suffered a concussion in Week 4 of 2016, his rookie season, and suggested a week later on social media that he needed to wear glasses full-time as a result of the injury. A CSN Mid-Atlantic report shortly afterward said there was “no truth” to Cravens’ claim.He reportedly considered retirement leading up to the 2017 season, ultimately deciding to step away from the team for a year and re-evaluate.A second-round pick out of USC in 2016, Cravens tallied 23 tackles, a sack, an interception and five passes defensed in 11 games (three starts) while playing linebacker as a rookie. He transitioned to strong safety the following offseason before stepping away from the team and missing all of 2017.49ers sign Kilgore to a three-year contract The San Francisco 49ers signed center Daniel Kilgore to a three-year contract through the 2020 season. Kilgore was set to become a free agent next month. Kilgore, 30, is coming off the best season of his seven seasons with the 49ers.He started all 16 games for the first time in his career and won the Bobb McKittrick Award as the team’s top offensive lineman — an honour that goes to a player who excels in courage, intensity and sacrifice as well as playing ability.
February 15, 2018 | 09:22 PM