NBC’s Mike Florio has built a reputation among Raider fans that isn’t the most flattering, but he has been one of the more interesting analysts on the Christian Wilkins situation as the unusual details around Wilkins’ release have become more complicated.
Florio is one of a handful of insiders and analysts that have heard the more dramatic rumor around Wilkins’ in recent days but has not been unwilling to pass along the details, presumably because of potential legal ramifications.
Florio also suspects the Raiders have been looking for a reason to release Wilkins and are using the situation (whatever it may ultimately be) to try to get out of the guaranteed money in his contract.
“This just feels like the company looking for a reason to get rid of the guy and they had this other thing fall into their lap, or they were actively looking for it,” Florio said on PFT Live on Tuesday.
But interestingly, Florio also seems to think that Wilkins’ camp is trying to downplay the story – which would suggest there is probably more to what happened between Wilkins and a teammate than what ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on the Pat McAfee Show.
“The reality here is Christin Wilkins has representation that is charged with finding him a job, so what do you do? You work the angles. You work your sources,” Florio continued.
“Let’s call it what it is. David Mulugheta represents Christian Wilkins. He’s working [Adam Schefter] to get Schefter to put a story out there that is favorable to Christian Wilkins. Let’s just put a favorable story out there so someone will pay him a lot of money. That’s how it works.”
“Why does the reporter do it?” Florio added. “Because it pays off on the back end. For example, when Micah Parsons signs his contract, Schefter may be the first one to report it now because it’s the same agent representing both guys. That’s the transactional nature of the insider game.”
In theory, Florio could be on target with both of his statements.
The Raiders may have been looking for a way out of Wilkins’ deal and Wilkins may have handed them one on a platter.
Additionally, if Wilkins’ agent feels the need to downplay the details around what actually happened, that could be a hint there’s something more going on. Florio, himself, hinted that Wilkins’ agent may be leaving out details to make his client look better.
Florio added that there are ways that Wilkins’ agent could get the truth to the public if he wanted, but to this point, that isn’t the route Wilkins’ camp has taken.
Ultimately, it’s hard to shape an opinion on the situation without all the details, and it feels safe to assume at this point that there are details that haven’t reached the public yet.
Eventually it’s going to happen, but for reasons unknown there hasn’t been anyone in the know willing to put their name on a story… yet.
x: @raidersbeat
Why is the Raider Hater even on this site?
Wilkins does have a history of grabbing dudes junk.