General manager John Spytek and coach Pete Carroll sent a strong message in releasing defensive tackle Christian Wilkins on Thursday: If you’re anything less than all in, then you have no place with the Las Vegas Raiders.
Letting go of a star player just one year after signing him to a four-year, $110 million contract made that point. However, the terse statement the team released shortly after left no doubt.
“We have decided that it is in the best interest of the organization to move on from Christian Wilkins and he has been informed of his release from the team,” the statement read. “This franchise has a Commitment to Excellence on and off the field. With no clear path or plan for future return to play from Christian, this transaction is necessary for the entire organization to move forward and prepare for the new season.”
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) July 24, 2025
Carroll was concise Friday when speaking to the media for the first time since releasing Wilkins.
“It took a long time to make our decision,” Carroll said. “I think there was no clear path to his return. So, we just had to move on.”
The rapid unraveling of the relationship between Wilkins and the Raiders began on Oct. 6, 2024. After getting off to a slow start last season, he was in the midst of his best performance in Silver and Black during a Week 5 matchup with the Denver Broncos. He’d racked up five tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack when he stepped awkwardly while trying to make an open-field tackle. He immediately started to hobble.
Wilkins finished the first half, but at halftime, he was ruled out for the remainder of the game. The following week, it was announced that he’d suffered a Jones fracture in his left foot that required season-ending surgery. It was one of many things that went wrong in a brutal 4-13 season for the Raiders.
It cost the men who signed Wilkins their jobs and led to the hiring of Spytek and Carroll. Although they weren’t around when he was acquired, it was clear he was a big part of their plans moving forward. That led them to restructure a $20.5 million roster bonus into a signing bonus, creating cap space in March. That further committed the franchise to Wilkins into the future, which is not something you’d do unless you planned on him being around.
Before the start of OTAs, however, the Raiders determined that Wilkins’ foot would need a second procedure to heal correctly. That was disappointing news, but there would still be plenty of time for him to recover and play in 2025.
There was just one issue: Wilkins didn’t want to get the surgery, according to league sources.
Publicly, the only sign the Raiders gave that something was amiss was Carroll calling Wilkins’ recovery process “difficult.” At that point, Wilkins had already been in and out of a walking boot multiple times. Even then, Carroll couched it by lauding the defensive tackle’s efforts to rehab and return.
“This has been a difficult recovery. He’s done everything he needs to do,” Carroll said in May. “He’s been here every day. He’s here early, working hard, but we’re still working on it. He’s not ready to get back out (there). We’re in the midst of a long, challenging process here. Fortunately, there’s a lot of time. We’re going to take every bit of it. We’re trying to be diligent. … He’s been onboard the whole time, but it has been challenging.”
The Raiders made repeated attempts to persuade Wilkins to undergo the second surgery, but he never did. That led the team to void the remaining $35.25 million in guaranteed money on his contract on June 4.
Last week, the Raiders placed Wilkins on the physically unable to perform list. A video emerged on social media of Wilkins working out at team headquarters over the weekend without a boot on, but he still wasn’t close to being ready to play. On Tuesday, Carroll called a timeline for Wilkins’ return “uncertain,” and the 29-year-old missed the first two practices of training camp on Wednesday and Thursday.
Wilkins filed a grievance through the NFLPA on Thursday morning, and the Raiders released him later that same day. The NFLPA and the Raiders will hold a hearing regarding the grievance, but a date has not been scheduled yet.
Whether or not the Raiders end up having to pay Wilkins his money, they concluded that he was no longer worth the trouble. That’s a bold move for a first-year regime, but it could pay dividends in setting the tone for how the Raiders will operate under Spytek and Carroll’s watch.
Wilkins’ refusal to undergo a second surgery garnered an adverse reaction from some players, coaches and executives, according to league sources, and raised questions about his commitment. That didn’t jive with what the front office has said they want the Raiders to be about.
“Our character will be our fate, in a sense,” Spytek said during the news conference introducing him and Carroll in January. “We’re looking for, first, people that love football and that want to compete every day, or there just won’t be a place for you here, and that’s OK. We want it to be a hard team to make. We want it to be a hard job every day, but for those that are willing to step up to that challenge and be a part of that, there will be a great reward at the end of that.”
Not allowing the Wilkins drama to continue hovering over the team made the expectations clear to everyone at team headquarters. As important as that is, the Raiders still have to grapple with finding a way to replace Wilkins this season. Adam Butler is a reliable starter, but the team needs another player or two to step up and provide quality depth.
The Raiders planned on having Wilkins, so they didn’t sign any veteran defensive tackles of note this offseason. And while they knew he could miss time, they still waited until Day 3 of the draft to add Tonka Hemingway and JJ Pegues.
Through OTAs and training camp, Leki Fotu, Tyree Wilson, Zach Carter and Jonah Laulu have rotated in next to Butler. It’s hard to see any of those players — or Hemingway and Pegues — making up for Wilkins. It’ll be a by-committee approach this season with the hope that the group can collectively produce a solid level of play.
“I trust those guys,” defensive end Maxx Crosby said Wednesday. “I know they’re going to be ready when it comes to game day. … We need them.”
The Raiders needed a healthy Wilkins. They felt he didn’t want that as badly as they did. His loss hurts — there’s no way around that. However, Spytek and Carroll are betting that they’ll make up the difference in a move that helps set the culture for the franchise moving forward.
“I hope so, yeah,” Carroll said when asked if he thinks a message was sent. “We have extremely high expectations. I don’t even know any other way to think. … You’re either going for it or you’re not, and we’re going for it. Whatever that means at the end of it, we’ll find out. But, in the meantime, there is no standard that we can set high enough that we can’t challenge for. …
“These guys are onboard. They get it.”
(Photo of John Spytek and Pete Carroll: Kirby Lee / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
