Free Agent DT Christian Wilkins ‘Fully Intends’ To Play This Season, 26 Teams Have Contacted Him

According to Adam Schefter, free agent DT Christian Wilkins “fully intends” to play this season, and approximately 26 teams have reached out to him. 

Schefter mentions that Wilkins is still rehabbing from his foot injury, and interested teams are waiting for him to be ready to play. 

Schefter also writes that Wilkins is expected to sign with a new team “as soon as he wants.” 

The last we heard of Wilkins was when the Raiders surprisingly released him over a disagreement about his foot injury in July of last year. 

At the time, Josina Anderson reported that 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 never officially acknowledged this, but Anderson cites a direct league source who had awareness of it and said, “Christian [was just] playing around.” Schefter said 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. 

Wilkins, 30, 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.