NFL GridIron Gab Daily Digest

Jeff Reed wants to stay with the Steelers, and the team seems to be on the same page in wanting to keep him. His price though likely went up this past week when the Raiders gave their kicker, Sebastian Janikowski, the biggest deal in history for a kicker.

The deal for Janikowski pays him $16 million over four years, including $9 million in guarantees. The agent for Reed says that the deal for the Raider kicker isn’t a big shock. “It doesn’t surprise me,” agent Don Henderson said. “It’s just about what I thought he would do. The ironic part is, if you take look at field goal kickers the last three years, Jeff leads league in field goal percentage.”

Reed has been as good as it comes when kicking the ball in tough Heinz Field. He’s even been better than Janikowski, as Reed’s percentage is 88.5 over the past three seasons, while Janikowski has made 80.2 of his kicks.

The average of the top 10 punters/kickers in the NFL before Janikowski’s contract was a little more than $2.8 million. Reed averaged about $1.5 million annually on his last contract with the Steelers. He’s stated he wants to kick for the Steelers, and the team has already opened talks with his agent. The question now is what really is Reed’s worth, and will the Steelers give it to him.

The Steelers offered a contract to Reed just before the 2009 season began that was rejected. “We tried to get something done before season and it just didn’t work out,” said Henderson. “We want to be in Pittsburgh and they know we want to be there.”