Defensive tackle Christian Wilkins was released by the Raiders last week, which immediately scanned as just another instance of the franchise deploying its "trip over your own feet" philosophy of roster construction. Yes, it's strange to release a guy who you just signed to a four-year deal with $84 million guaranteed last offseason, but that's how bad teams do business.
Conscious of how a move like this would look, the Raiders had an explanation ready to be disseminated through various league insiders: Wilkins, who suffered a Jones fracture in his foot last October, was refusing to follow the team's recommendation to have a second surgery on his foot, and therefore the Raiders were not only releasing him but seeking to recoup $35.2 million of guaranteed money that remains on his contract.
Wilkins filed a grievance through the NFLPA, at which point another team-friendly piece of the story started making its way into reports: Wilkins had done something in the locker room that had made one of his teammates uncomfortable. This vague piece of info was passed along by a few reporters, none with more gusto than 2023 Shamsy winner Josina Anderson:
Some league sources believe an incident involving a teammate may have factored in-part into the Raiders' fatigue and release of Christian Wilkins, beyond the management of his foot injury as the reported predominant cause. The Raiders have not officially confirmed an incident or a complaint involving Wilkins and a teammate, while another direct league source confirmed awareness of a situation in which "Christian [was] playing around."
Thankfully, ESPN's Adam Schefter emerged on Monday to tell us exactly what was going on when "Christian [was] playing around." According to Schefter, Wilkins "kissed a fellow player on the head," and the player was miffed enough by the kiss that he reported it to the Raiders' human resources department. From the report:
Last week's incident happened inside a team meeting room. One source told ESPN that the interaction was "playful," but the teammate didn't see it that way. It's not known what the fellow player did following the incident.
Schefter's report clarified that the kiss was "not the sole reason Wilkins was cut."
Players becoming the subject of unflattering reports in the hours and days after they are released or traded occurs often enough to be unremarkable. Teams always need to signal to their fans that they actually had a really good reason for making a befuddling roster move, and reporters are always up for a little beat sweetening. What stands out about this instance is the details of the reporting: Trashing a player's work ethic or physical fitness after they've left the team is the trusted maneuver, but he did a weird little smooch is a new one.
Surely the Raiders don't think that this incident becoming public is going to help them defend against the NFLPA's grievance and hold onto the $35.2 million they still owe Wilkins, but I suppose getting it out there now does provide some value: All current and future Raiders should know that there is at least one guy in the locker room who will not stand for being playfully kissed on the noggin.
