The Raiders surprisingly released DT Christian Wilkins over a disagreement about his foot injury last Tuesday.
Josina Anderson reports some league sources believe an incident with a teammate may also have factored into the Raiders’ decision to release Wilkins, along with the frustrations over his rehab for a foot injury.
The Raiders haven’t officially acknowledged this, but Anderson cites a direct league source who had awareness of it and said, “Christian [was just] playing around.”
Adam Schefter says the incident in question was Wilkins playfully attempting to kiss a teammate on top of his head and the player took offense to that. He added that Wilkins’ medical situation was far more of a factor in the team’s decision to move on, noting the Raiders wanted Wilkins to get surgery to expedite his recovery while Wilkins declined.
Raiders HC Pete Carroll said the team’s decision to release Wilkins was a long thought-out decision that concluded when they saw no clear way for Wilkins to return.
“We took a long time to make our decision,” Carroll explained on Friday, via ESPN’s Ryan McFadden. “We watched our way through the whole thing. We’re keeping it really clear with what we said. I think there was no clear path to his return, and so we just had to move on. We have extremely high expectations. I don’t even know any other way to think. I don’t care for what year or team it is; it doesn’t matter to me. You’re either going for it or you are not. We are going for it. And these guys are on board. They get it.”
McFadden also reported the following about how the Wilkins’ situation went down:
- Wilkins was released with the designation of terminated vested veteran and has been recovering from a Jones fracture that he suffered in his left foot last October.
- Based on how Wilkins treated the rehab for his injury, the Raiders voided the remaining $35.2 million of guaranteed money left on his contract on June 4th.
- The Raiders believed Wilkins needed another surgery on his foot, yet he was against it, leading to the team voiding the money due to “failure to maintain his physical condition to play.”
- The NFLPA filed a grievance on Wilkins’ behalf, which will likely lead to a hearing on the matter.
- Carroll said the competition on the defensive line is “wide open” and multiple players will receive first and second team reps.
- Carroll is hoping that former seventh overall pick DE Tyree Wilson is able to step up as a big contributor: “I’m counting on him to do stuff in a big way.”
Wilkins, 29, is a former first-round pick of the Dolphins back in 2019 out of Clemson. He signed a four-year, $15,439,100 contract with Miami that included a $9,248,436 signing bonus and played out the deal.
He made a salary of $10,753,000 in 2023 under his fifth-year option. Las Vegas signed him to a four-year, $110 million deal including $84.75 million guaranteed, in March 2024.
In 2024, Wilkins appeared in five games for the Raiders and recorded 17 tackles and two sacks.
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