Raiders to pay record amount to get their kicks from Sebastian Janikowski | NFL

ALAMEDA, Calif. — Sebastian Janikowski and the Oakland Raiders agreed on a $16 million, four-year deal Tuesday that is the richest contract for a kicker in league history, team officials said.

Janikowski will be guaranteed $9 million in the deal, a person familiar with the contract said on condition of anonymity because the team did not announce terms.

Janikowski, 31, was eligible to be an unrestricted free agent if the Raiders did not sign him to a contract or place the transition or franchise tag on him by Feb. 25.

The Raiders were able to lock him up by giving him the same contract All-Pro punter Shane Lechler got a year ago to stay out of free agency.

Janikowski is coming off the best season of his 10-year career.

Janikowski made 26 of 29 field-goal attempts, with his misses coming from 45, 57 and 66 yards. He made six kicks of at least 50 yards, including a 61-yarder. Janikowski became the leading scorer in team history in 2008 and has 1,000 career points.

Notes

• The NFL Players Association, in a filing, accused the league of not sharing as much supplemental revenue with its lower-income teams as it should.

Jeffrey Kessler, the outside counsel for the NFLPA, said the league violated the terms of the collective-bargaining agreement and the plan for sharing supplemental revenue "for the years 2006-08."

League spokesman Greg Aiello said the NFL has abided by the system.

• Attorneys say San Diego linebacker Shawne Merriman, 25, and reality-television star Tila Tequila, 28, have settled dueling lawsuits.

Merriman was arrested Sept. 6 after Tequila accused him of battery and false imprisonment at his suburban San Diego home.

Prosecutors declined to charge Merriman but Tequila, whose real name is Tila Nguyen, filed a lawsuit that alleged the linebacker choked her. Merriman sued for international interference with a contract, claiming the controversy delayed a potential T-shirt deal he was negotiating with Wal-Mart.

• Quarterback Mark Sanchez, 23, of the New York Jets is scheduled to have surgery Wednesday to repair the patella ligament in his left knee.

• The Buffalo Bills released seven players, including tight end Derek Fine, 26.