Las Vegas Raiders announced yesterday that they published the defensive platform Christian Wilkins. It comes a little more than a year after the team signed Wilkins as a free agency to a $ 110 million contract over four years.
“We decided that he was in the best interest of the organization to leave Christian Wilkins, and he was informed of his team release,” the raiders said in a statement. “This franchise has a commitment to excellence on and off the field. Without a path or a clear plan for the future return to play Christian, this transaction is necessary for the whole organization to progress and prepare for the new season. ”
According to sources that have spoken to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Wilkins will be appointed as a Las Vegas Végas dismissed veteran in Las Vegas in the hope that the team can cancel the remaining $ 35.2 million due to its contract. According to the collective agreement of the NFL, the dismissed veterans “will not be entitled to a dismissal salary under this article if the club can demonstrate that … the player has not shown the level of effort in good faith which can be reasonably expected by NFL players on this club.”
Wilkins was drafted with the 13th choice in total to the draft of the 2019 NFL. After spending the first five years of his career with the Dolphins of Miami, he signed with the Last Raiders Demon. During his only year with Vegas, he appeared in five games before his season was interrupted by a fracture of Jones in his left foot.
Although the initial belief is that it would need surgery at the foot, it made fun of the idea, sources said. The raiders then decided to cancel the guaranteed money remaining on his contract because Wilkins did not “maintain his physical condition to play”.
Wilkins asked the NFL players’ association to file a grievance in its name. The next step in the call process would be an audience.
Another failure of Raiders 2024
It seems that Las Vegas always pays for the incompetence of the previous regime. It is not enough that former managing director Tom Telesco and head coach Antonio Pierce has only accumulated four victories during their mandate. Now they let their failures find themselves in the next regime.
Of the ten individuals marked that the raiders signed or re-signed last season, only one player remains on the list before this season: the defensive platform Adam Butler. I suppose that it is good that Tom Telesco signed it because he is one of the few defensive plated plated that remains on the list.
There are currently eight defensive plated in Las Vegas. Four of them are recruits, while another entered the second year in the NFL. Consequently, the raiders have three defensive plated with several years of experience in the NFL: Adam Butler, Leki Futu and Zach Carter. Given these three guys combined for 81 plated last season (an average of 27 per player), he is sure to say that raiders will have problems with their interior defensive line.
The good news is that the raiders were actually not bad against the race last season. In fact, they finished the season with the 13th best race defense in the NFL. With the addition of eight new players to La Défense, it is possible that Vegas does not miss Wilkins too much, which would explain why they were ready to get rid of him after only five games.
Will anyone sign Christian Wilkins?
Although there are character problems concerning his commitment to be in good health, Christian Wilkins is still a good football player. Some teams could use their experience along the defensive front. Even if he has to undergo surgery, there is a chance that he can return later in the year for the playoffs. If nothing else, he will be back on the field and will contribute to the 2026-20 season.
The Buffalo Bills come to my mind as a team that needs a defensive tackle. Larry Ogunjobi and Michael Hoecht will both miss several games due to the suspension. Meanwhile, Joey Bosa is already faced with injuries. The addition of Christian Wilkins would have a short -term and long -term meaning.
New Orleans’ saints were the second team against the NFL race last season. Although they exchanged for Davon Godchaux, they have only six other defensive plasters on their list, and most of these guys are not pure defensive plated. Most of them are purposes or hybrids. Wilkins would be a welcome addition as a pure nose tackle.
The Patriots of New England are also a potential pretender for Wilkins. Patriots’ head coach Mike Vrabel, who recruited Wilkins in high school, said the team “would have a conversation” on the former first-round choice.
It is not even necessary that it is a team that has major holes along the defensive line. Christian Wilkins is a good football player who will be signed in the coming days or weeks.
