Draft insider Tony Pauline made a few waves ahead of the draft when he reported the Raiders have lingering concerns around the foot injury Christian Wilkins suffered at the start of the 2024 season.
“I’m told there is serious concern over a foot injury Christian Wilkins has been dealing with since last season,” Pauline reported in the hours leading up to the draft, adding that there is concern Wilkins could end up missing a portion of the 2025 season, as well.
Several local reports downplayed Wilkins’ foot issue, but it’s worth noting The Athletic’s Vic Tafur acknowledged Wilkins was back in a boot a month prior to the draft.
There were photos of Wilkins working out at the team facility last month, but clearly there was some kind of a setback in the last two months that initiated these reports.
For what it’s worth, Pauline doubled down on his report last week and said there is still a chance Wilkins is going to need another procedure on his foot.
“They addressed the interior of that defensive line position. As I mentioned right before the draft, there’s a problem with Christian Wilkins’ foot. He may need another procedure,” Pauline reported last week. “They added two potential pass rushers on the inside with Tonka Hemingway and J.J. Pegues.”
There are still a few months for Wilkins to get his foot back to full strength, but there has to be a little anxiety in the Raiders building considering the team handed their star defensive tackle a four-year, $110 million deal just over a year ago.
As for the defensive tackles taken in the draft, the Raiders didn’t have a lot of youth at the position going into the draft, so the additions of Hemingway and Pegues could have nothing to do with Wilkins’ foot.
Should it ever become a talking point, the Raiders don’t have a lot of wiggle room on Wilkins’ contract for another two years.
According to OverTheCap, the Raiders won’t have an opportunity to unload the veteran defensive tackle’s contract without a significant dead money hit until after the 2026 season.
x: @raidersbeat
Unbelievable. If the guy stays healthy, he’s a huge impact. Pay him the big bucks and he goes down like a lead weight.
I hope he at least restructures his contract so we can get somebody who can actually stay on the field.
Big name players are not always the best bet lesser rated players seem to be less likely have a stronger will to play through injuries the raiders f up again their own fault again 👍
When we got him it sounded good at the time, go figure.
CAP. just posting for views at this point
get ready for more BS reports, remember these reporters have nothing going on right now until later in the summer and still need the engagement
No cap
Cap! there a pic him working out like yesterday.
Again what a terrible decision by Tom Telesco. One of the many reasons he wasn’t retained. Giving out that massive contract to a guy who didn’t deserve it shows exactly why Telesco was a terrible GM. He did the same stuff with the LA/SD Bolts. The only thing I’ve ever said that was good about him was he wasn’t McZiggy nor Gruden as both of those administrations were worse. Too bad we can’t go back to 2017 and ask Mark what are you thinking?
At his signing he was the top rated free agent DT, if he didn’t get a contract with raiders it would have been someone else, injuries happen. Was a great signing
Agreed. However, we did make him the highest paid. DT. And the productivity wasn’t quite there to pay that much. Was it all about the fattest second contractor that he could get? And then go on auto pilot and retire? I hope not. But he sure has not lived up to that contract.