Raiders punter Shane Lechler, 36, is in the final year of a four-year, $16 million contract signed in 2009 that made him the highest-paid punter in the NFL, Jerry McDonald of Bayareanewsgroup reports. He's scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent.
Coming into the season having had surgery on his nonkicking leg, Lechler has only of late begun to show the form that has made him the NFL's all-time leader in gross punting average.
"The numbers that I've put up this year have been my numbers," Lechler said. "I've still got three games to correct some stuff and get ready to find out what's going to happen after this year."
It didn't go unnoticed by Lechler that undrafted free agent Marquette King, a thunder-footed punter with consistency issues, was kept on injured reserve with a foot injury after a weight-room accident in early September. He'll ostensibly compete for the job in 2013.
"It was frustrating for a little while because this is my job, and it has been mine for 13 years," Lechler said. "I took it a little bit personal early, but after that I was like, 'You know what? I can only worry about so many things around here.' That was one of them I needed to stop worrying about." Source: The Redzone Attached Thumbnails
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December 12, 2012
