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  • 6 days ago
Kyle Crabbs discusses the recent news of Christian Wilkins being cut from roster only a year after the Las Vegas Raiders signed him on a free agency deal
Transcript
00:00The Las Vegas Raiders are learning a costly lesson on just how dangerous it is to play in the deep end of the NFL's free agency pool.
00:12I'm Kyle Krabs with A to Z Sports, and it was just one year ago that Christian Wilkins was set to enter into the 2024 season as one of the five highest paid defensive players in all of football.
00:25He signed a four-year, $110 million contract with the Las Vegas Raiders after five strong seasons as a former first-round pick with the Miami Dolphins.
00:37And just one year into that four-year, $110 million contract, Christian Wilkins has been released by the Las Vegas Raiders, and in some ways, this is just bad luck.
00:49Christian Wilkins was the model and epitome of durability during his time in Miami.
00:55His final three seasons with the team, he did not miss a game.
00:58He played over 900 snaps in each of his final three seasons between offense, defense, and special teams, and over 1,100 snaps in the final two seasons in 2022 and 2023.
01:10But Wilkins, in his first season with Las Vegas, suffered a Jones fracture in his fifth game in October and played less than 25% of the snaps.
01:19And now reports indicate that there was some dispute between the Raiders and Wilkins on whether or not he should undergo surgery to help the foot to fully recover.
01:28As a result, the Las Vegas Raiders, with no viable path forward, have released Christian Wilkins and are going to attempt to recoup the guarantees left on his contract.
01:37It's going to be a messy situation and one that serves as the latest lesson of what can happen when you choose to play in the deep end of the NFL's free agency pool.
01:48Throwing around big-time money can certainly attract top-end talent on the open market to come and play for your team.
01:55But those players who have the best long-term resumes usually don't hit free agency.
02:02And there is absolutely a surcharge when a good player does hit the market.
02:07Sometimes these players are going 20%, 25% over their projected salaries because of the amount of teams that are willing to bet on and invest significant dollars up front into a free agent contract.
02:22It's exactly what the Raiders did with Christian Wilkins.
02:25He was supposed to anchor the defensive line alongside Max Crosby.
02:30Instead, Wilkins is out with Las Vegas.
02:33Wilkins will now presumably look to make visits with teams and try to pass physicals in a bid to sign a contract and play somewhere this season.
02:42But the terms of his contract could be very much up in the air depending on what ultimately happens with the arbitration ruling around Wilkins' guarantees that the Raiders are trying to void.
02:52It's a messy situation and the latest cautionary tale of how you make sure you know how to swim when you go out in the deep end and try to spend big money in NFL free agency.

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