ESPN's Adam Schefter reported the news Wednesday, citing sources and noting, "The longest-tenured Raider in history remains in Oakland."
This comes after Schefter reported the Raiders asked their 39-year-old kicker to rework his contract. Janikowski had refused to that point, and Schefter noted his $4.05 million 2017 salary was fully guaranteed if he was still on the roster by Saturday.
On Thursday, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported Janikowski took a pay cut to $3 million, noting it could create room for a new contract for Donald Penn.
According to Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com, Janikowski was already guaranteed $238,000 of the salary (one week's check) because he was still on the roster Tuesday.
Rapoport reported during the apparent contract impasse the Raiders were concerned with both Janikowski's back and his age. The Florida State product missed the final two preseason games with injuries, and ESPN's Field Yates (via Schefter) reported that Oakland worked out Josh Lambo, Mike Nugent and Marshall Koehn.
Rapoport cited a source who went as far as saying Janikowski looked "awful" with his back issues.
The concern reached a point where Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio addressed the situation, per Scott Bair of CSN Bay Area:
"I'm not good about forecasting things. We'll see how he goes through the workweek. There was concern early in the week, and we'll need to see how he responds. We had some kickers come in here to make sure we're prepared in the case that he's not able to go, that we're covered.
"I think it was a case that took on a life of its own with reporting and speculating. We're doing our due diligence. We'll see how the week goes."
Janikowski has been with Oakland his entire career since the franchise used a first-round pick on him in 2000. He was 29-of-35 on field goals last season and has connected on at least 20 field goals 15 times and at least 30 three times throughout his lengthy career.
The 2011 Pro Bowler is also an impressive 14-of-16 on field goals in the playoffs.
According to Gutierrez, Janikowski's 1,799 points rank 10th in NFL history, while he holds Raiders records in games (268) and seasons (17).
