JULY 25: Clarifying the matter of a surgery request on the team’s part, Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports Vegas attempted to have Wilkins undergo a second operation as a follow-up to his procedure in October. Wilkins’ preference to continue rehabbing instead of going under the knife a second time resulted in the tension between the parties which has now culminated in this release.
JULY 24: In a stunning move, the Raiders are moving on from one of the prizes of the 2024 offseason. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the team is releasing defensive tackle Christian Wilkins.
Per Schefter, the team is releasing Wilkins as a “terminated vested veteran.” The team was able to void the rest of the player’s remaining money ($35.2MM) following a dispute over Wilkins’ approach to rehabbing his foot injury. The voiding of guarantees happened last month, according to Dianna Russini of The Athletic, and the veteran subsequently filed a grievance with the NFLPA. Those events ultimately culminated in today’s sudden move.
We’re only a year removed from Wilkins signing one of the most notable contracts of the 2024 offseason. The defensive tackle inked a four-year, $110MM deal that included $57.5MM in guaranteed money. He only ended up getting into five games during his first (and lone) season in Las Vegas, as a foot injury ended his season early in October.
That Jones fracture reportedly required surgery, but there are conflicting reports about how Wilkins approached his recovery. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Raiders wanted their investment to go under the knife, but the player refused after seeking multiple opinions. Meanwhile, Tashan Reed of The Athletic says the player did indeed undergo foot surgery, and today’s transaction stems from the player’s approach to rehab.
Either way, there was a clear lack of progress in his recovery from the injury, and this issue was at the root of a private battle that was “simmering” between the two sides for months, according to Russini. Vic Tafur of The Athletic adds that there have been “rumblings” about the player’s rehab for a while.
While the current Raiders’ regime wasn’t involved in the signing of Wilkins, the hulking defensive tackle was still one of the most talented players on the current roster. In other words, things must have gone very wrong between the two sides this offseason, and the team’s natural decision to void guarantees will only lead to more contention. Wilkins is surely done in Las Vegas, as his grievance will simply look to recoup any of that lost money. If the Raiders end up getting their way, they’ll only be on the hook for a prorated version of the player’s $24MM signing bonus (per Reed). This commitment comes via a restructuring from earlier this offseason.
The team clearly didn’t mince words in a statement announcing the transaction:
“This franchise has a Commitment to Excellence on and off the field. With no clear path or plan for future return to play from Christian, this transaction is necessary for the entire organization to move forward and prepare for the new season.”
Wilkins really didn’t bring much injury risk to Las Vegas. The former Dolphins first-round pick only missed a pair of games during his five seasons in Miami, and he appeared in all 51 games between 2021 and 2023. Over that span, the six-foot-four, 310-pound lineman compiled 252 tackles, 17 sacks, and four forced fumbles. Pro Football Focus graded him as a top-10 interior defensive lineman in both 2021 and 2022.
The free agent addition was trending towards at least a top-20 PFF grade during the 2024 season. He started each of his five appearances with the Raiders, compiling 17 tackles and a pair of sacks while only missing a handful of snaps in his four healthy games. The injury ultimately ended that productive campaign (and his Raiders career) early.
Adam Butler ended up leading the position grouping in snaps in 2024, and the veteran will now definitively be at the top of the depth chart with Wilkins no longer in the picture. The team is also still rostering Jonah Laulu, one of the main beneficiaries of Wilkins’ injury last year. John Jenkins is gone after finishing second among Raiders DTs in snaps last season, but the team did replace him with free agent acquisition Leki Fotu, who started nine of his 11 games with the Jets in 2024.
Wilkins’ foot issue obviously clouds his immediate future, and it may delay his signing with another squad. When he is ultimately deemed healthy, he’ll represent the most impactful free agent on the market, even as teams make cuts to their preseason rosters. Thanks to his newfound free agency and his ongoing dispute with the Raiders organization, this story is far from over.
The foot must be fubar.
Pete giving up on a D lineman, man this must be something crazy
Or perhaps Wilkins made a critical remark about Brady as a broadcaster that got him axed…lol.
WOW. I’ve seen some drastic moves to cut ties with a previous regime’s moves, but this is a doozy. His contract was outsized because he was the rare young star to actually reach unrestricted free agency, but he was a very good player who went three straight years without missing a game while playing a ton of snaps. Amazing how fast and how far that went south.
Can you imagine the rancor there must’ve been for it to get this far?
He wasn’t a star. His contract year was the only year he approached double digit sacks, and he’s not particularly great against the run. Dolphins didn’t seem to miss him at all last year. It was just a blatant overpay.
His contract was over the top, but I think you’re underrating him as a player. Defensive tackles are rarely going to light up sack totals. There was literally one defensive tackle with ten sacks last year.
But if you pay somebody like that, he’d either better have those number or be Ndamukong Suh in his impact on the whole defensive line. He was neither.
Dolphins fan here, you are wrong about Wilkins. He was a freaking stud and he left a huge void on our line. He was actually great against the run and one of the better inside rushers in the league. Sack totals don’t tell the whole story. The Dolphins are in salary cap hell, which is why they couldn’t tag Wilkins. It wasn’t that they wouldnt, it’s that they couldn’t.
He was a huge void on your line, but your defense was better the year after he left. Okay. Don’t confuse because you liked him with that he was worth that money. He was never mentioned in the upper echelon of defensive tackles in the league before or after he signed that contract. Sack totals were weak, and the Dolphins were never among the league’s best run defenses, but yep, he was great.
Wow, did I strike a nerve? I don’t know why you feel the need to take this so personally, but you are still wrong. I’m not a Christian Wilkins fanboy, so I don’t want you to be confused. But he has consistently been graded as a good run defender, that is an objective fact. He was the number 4 available free agent on this very site last year, so he clearly was highly regarded. The dolphins just used their first round pick on a DT because they sorely missed what Wilkins brought to the defense. Is he Aaron Donald? Of course not. But he is a damn good player. Pinning the entire defensive units performance on one player is a bit dramatic
Struck a nerve with who? I don’t go by lists or how someone is ranked on sites. I watched him play. He was never considered in that elite range of DTs in the league. Dolphins literally were wanting him to step up in his contract year, and he finally had decent sack numbers but still sucked against the run, and that’s with the DC who just destroyed the Chiefs in the Super Bowl last January. You can keep repeating the garbage all you want, but he was not an impact player that changed a defense, which is what kind of contract he was given by the Raiders. Furthermore, do you really want to go on last year’s FA class? You might want to check out where all those players are now. All of them are gone from their team or are benched like Kirk Cousins, so that’s just letting you know it was a horrible FA class.
Nonsense. He was definitely a star.
A star who has never made a pro bowl or all pro team lol.
Exactly. He was a good player on a mediocre defense that his original team didn’t even tag one time to keep before letting him go. You make that investment, you’d better know you’re getting an impact stud. His little time with the Raiders playing opposite Crosby, one of the best defensive linemen in the league, he was pretty mediocre aside from one quarter against the Ravens.
Well on the one hand he totally has the right to dictate what happens with his own body. And the team has the right to demand he rehab their way or lose the guaranteed money. Both sides are right here and Wilkins better be right to void that guaranteed money or he’s going to look foolish. This is going to be interesting to see how this ends up because you don’t see this happen every day. In fact I can’t remember anything quite like it.
We’re in a boom time for defensive tackles. A guy can be really good without being top five.
Oh look, the guy who doesn’t know anything about football (DDC) is talking again.
Literally every league analyst and probably most players thought he was a star from day one and especially going back to college. He’s still considered one of the top young DT prospects of the past ten years.
So much for partying in Vegas…
Congratutions Mr. Wilkins, you played yourself.
he just made over 90 million dollars for playing 5 games…. who played who? lol
This isn’t baseball. His contract was voided so all he gets is what he made last year and the rest is voided. He voided 90 million dollars and 57 guaranteed minus whatever guarantee that pro rates to last year. Now he’s going to have to rehab himself, Find a team, Pass a physical and prove he can stay on the field just to get another contract. He better be right. One has to wonder, What exactly were the Raiders asking him to do that he would balk and walk away from that deal? That’s the question.
He got over $29 million in cash last year.
No dancing at the club
My guess? He showed up to camp 400 lbs. His foot isn’t ready to go because it wasnt rehabbed properly. Raiders lawyers got together during the week and gave the team their legal options. TB12 came in and said “F this guy” and he was cut.
@jeremyn Your reading comprehension might not be as good as you think it is.
Come to ATL if healthy
I’m pretty sure the Raiders wouldn’t have released him if he was healthy.
You know what I mean
Sounds like the injury issue is worse than originally thought.
Disaster signing.
Certainly looks that way now. Sheesh. I suppose they ended this experiment at this juncture, at least, instead of carrying it on further.
Hard to tell who’s at fault or what happened without knowing details. Seems like personal business to me, but interested teams might want to know. In any case, I bet that Wilkins has gotten plenty of calls from new phone numbers about his current rehab timeline after this news…someone is going to take on that chance.
In hindsight sure.
Fair point (and I’ll upvote the sentiment), I liked it at the time. Unfortunately, it turned much differently than anyone expected. I do think it qualifies as disastrous, but I definitely don’t blame Vegas for doing it at the time.
Agreed. Just never came to fruition.
I’ve used this paraphrase of a movie quote before, but it works well here:
“Well, obviously the Raiders are thinking… actually I have no idea what they’re thinking!” – Harry Doyle/Bob Uecker, “Major League”
Dolphins could use all the DL help they can get right now.
but they’re also as broke as a joke.
Lol a commitment to excellence? Seriously?
Now someone in another article said one problems the Raiders had was his work ethic on the rehab. Felt he wasn’t working hard enough. Which obviously only Wilkins know that. Wonder if this will start looking like the Haynesworth deal. The Redskins DT that pretty much quit working hard as soon as he signed the big deal? Not saying it is but wonder if Raiders start kinda comparing it to.
Washington was a terrible fit for him. Haynesworth balled out both stints in Tennessee.
Niners have the cap and need.
Not happening. If they aren’t signing a decent WR that’s itching to get on a team and it’s a team need, they aren’t signing a hurt DT when they just drafted the future at that position.
Trying to cancel guarantees will do wonders for rheir future ability to sign future free agents.
I’m pretty sure players are going to be thinking more about Nevada’s lack of an income tax and enjoying the Las Vegas night life before they give any thought to Christian Wilkins.
Wow! The Raiders pulled a dirty here. Not like Wilkins wasn’t trying to rehab his foot. Surgery should be the player’s option and he was consulting with doctors on the proper care…yet the Raiders wanted surgery as the only option…they must of had a insurance policy on the contract that paid out if the player had surgery 😳…well that’s why the Raiders suck….
He’s been out almost a calendar year for a three-month injury.
Browns fans talking…priceless. Dude missed nearly all of last season. Had surgery. Apparently didn’t rehab correctly or something, but now needs to have surgery AGAIN and will miss most if not all of this season. Factor in he was signed by a different regime.
Feeling a little Albert Haynesworth vibe from this now… outside looking in. We haven’t heard much from Wilkins to his thoughts on his rehab progress but he got bank and needed to do a little more to get on the field it seems. Sucks for both sides…. nobody wins when it happens this late in an offseason
There’s seems to be a leaguewide focus by ownership to get out of contract guarantees.
The Raiders can cut him, but using rehab and treatment disagreements to get out of guarantees is shady, and should be fought by the players association.
If he had rehabbed properly he would’ve been back on the field last season. It’s been 6 months since then and he’s STILL not even practicing.