Around this time two years ago, Christian Wilkins was the Las Vegas Raiders\u2019 prized free agent signing, inking a four-year, $110 million contract. However, Wilkins\u2019 time in Las Vegas was infamously short, participating in five games before a broken foot ended his 2024 campaign. That led to a disagreement over his rehab last summer, which, combined with a locker room incident, resulted in the defensive tackle\u2019s release.<\/p>\n
Wilkins never signed with another team, sitting out all of last season. But that appears to be temporary, as ESPN\u2019s Adam Schefter<\/a> reported on Friday that the 30-year-old is eying a return and more than three-quarters of the league has shown interest in him.<\/p>\n \u201cFree-agent DT Christian Wilkins fully intends to play this season, but still is rehabbing his foot injury, per his agent David Mulugheta,\u201d Schefter posted on X\/Twitter. \u201cSo 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite needing some help on the defensive line, it feels pretty safe to say that the Raiders are in the minority as one of the six teams that didn\u2019t check in on Wilkins. They voided the remaining guarantees on his contract over the rehab issue last year, and the NFLPA filed a grievance on his behalf. So far, there haven\u2019t been any updates on the matter, making it an ongoing issue.<\/p>\n While there have been plenty of rumors, it still isn\u2019t public knowledge of what actually happened in the locker room incident that appeared to be Wilkins\u2019 final straw in Las Vegas. Schefter\u2019s colleague, Jordan Raanan, said Thursday on the Giants Nation Show<\/a>:<\/p>\n \u201cWhatever happened in that locker room, I don\u2019t know exactly what it was, but on top of the injury part, it just sounds like that\u2019s gonna be a tough one for him to overcome. Even if it\u2019s Dexter Lawrence [pushing to the Giants to sign Wilkins], who is one of his best friends (Lawrence and Wilkins played together at Clemson), it doesn\u2019t sound like that\u2019s one where it\u2019s gonna be easy to bring him into your locker room.\u201d<\/p>\n