The Raiders made a veteran addition to the roster by signing safety Jamal Adams. Meanwhile, they’ve released defensive tackle Christian Wilkins. That’s painful to see, as he was set to become the best interior presence the Raiders have had in quite some time. But from a business standpoint, the move made sense.

Releasing Christian Wilkins Makes Sense for the Raiders

This truly does stink. Wilkins is such a fun player to watch and a very dynamic presence when he is healthy and on the football field. Pairing him in the middle next to Maxx Crosby is such a wise idea. You now have two threats in the trenches. Welp, one of the questions I had going into training camp was who can step up in the absence of Wilkins? That’ll now be something to monitor as training camp moves along because he is now not coming back.

Tonka Hemingway and JJ Pegus are going to be playing key roles and the Raiders to hope eventually Wilson breaks through and delivers. This decision was not a football decision, but a business decision first and foremost.

Wilkins was pegged to potentially miss a chunk of the 2025 season. With that being said, the Raiders would need to figure out life without him and how they can proceed moving forward. His rehab was not going as planned, so now they’ve released him and save $35.1 million that was guaranteed for his contract. It’s definitely not what they had in mind when they signed him to play for the Silver and Black, but injuries happen in this grind of a sport. This young Raiders offensive line is going to need to find ways to produce and fill that void.

He is a tackle machine and can generate pressure on the interior line. Wilkins did set a career high in sacks the year before he signed with the Raiders and in five games for the Raiders he had 11 tackles, two sacks, two tackles for loss, and was a fun presence on the line. It’s a shame his tenure had to end this way because he was a huge need on the defense.

Crosby, Malcolm Koonce, and these other young rookies at the defensive tackle position will be leaned on heavily.