Getty
Former Las Vegas Raiders DT Christian Wilkins.
One of the biggest stories of last offseason was the Las Vegas Raiders‘ surprise decision to cut star defensive tackle Christian Wilkins just one year into a four-year, $110 million contract. It was also revealed that the team was voiding his guarantee, which is still an ongoing legal issue.
Despite being one of the best defensive tackles in the NFL, he was not signed by another team last offseason and sat out the year. There was no word about any interest in him around the NFL until ESPN’s Jordan Raanan suggested that the New York Giants wouldn’t consider signing him.
“Whatever happened in that locker room, I don’t know exactly what it was, but on top of the injury part, it just sounds like that’s gonna be a tough one for him to overcome,” Raanan said on the “Giants Nation Show.”
“Even if it’s Dexter Lawrence, who is one of his best friends, it doesn’t sound like that’s one where it’s gonna be easy to bring him into your locker room.”
After Raanan put that out, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that there is actually a lot of interest in Wilkins around the NFL, and he’s just waiting until he’s ready.
“Free-agent DT Christian Wilkins fully intends to play this season, but still is rehabbing his foot injury, per his agent David Mulugheta,” Schefter wrote on X. “So far 26 teams have reached out and are waiting for Wilkins to be ready, and Wilkins is expected to have a new home as soon as he wants.”
Schefter Accused of Being Mouthpiece for Agents
The reason Schefter is able to get all of the top NFL scoops is that he maintains strong relationships with player agents. Though it’s difficult to know for sure the intention of his Wilkins report, many suggested that he wasn’t being completely genuine.
“My favorite type of reporting is when media does agent PR work for them,” one person wrote on X.
“They don’t even try and hide it anymore,” former Raiders beat writer Vic Tafur wrote in response to the accusation.
It’s also difficult to disregard what Schefter is reporting, as it hasn’t been reported exactly what Wilkins could have done to warrant being blackballed by the NFL.
According to Tafur, the Raiders can’t disclose what happened for “legal reasons,” so it’s possible that it may never become public knowledge why the team cut ties with him.
Will Wilkins Play in 2026?
It’s odd that Wilkins is just all of a sudden starting to show up in the news. It is possible that he’s waiting for a legal situation to play out with the Raiders before he signs a contract with another team.
If 26 teams are actually interested, he should be on a team before the start of the season. However, getting back on the field means that he’ll have to answer questions about what happened with the Raiders.
It’s a bizarre situation all around for one of the NFL’s premier defensive players. In the end, talent usually wins out, so there’s a chance he’ll be on an NFL roster again at some point.
Austin Boyd has covered the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Lakers for Heavy.com since 2019. A Los Angeles native now based in Las Vegas, his featured work at Heavy includes interviews with NFL stars Darren Waller and Joe Montana, and a behind-the-scenes look at “The Shop.” More about Austin Boyd
More Heavy on Raiders
Loading more stories
Source link
