Adam Schefter reveals alleged 'weird' incident between Christian Wilkins, Raiders teammate

The Las Vegas Raiders surprisingly released defensive tackle Christian Wilkins last week. It’s far from a cut-and-dry scenario though, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Las Vegas voided the $35.2 million of guaranteed money left on Wilkins’ contract last month. He originally signed a 4-year, $110 million deal with the Raiders last offseason — $57.5 million of which was set to be fully guaranteed. In the time since, Wilkins has filed a grievance with the NFLPA.

The Raiders reportedly voided the rest of Wilkins’ guaranteed money due to how he rehabbed the season-ending injury to his left foot, per Schefter. It occurred during Week 5 of the 2024 season and required surgery. The player and the franchise have apparently disagreed on how to approach his rehab.

However, there might be more than meets the eye when it comes to the story. Schefter joined The Pat McAfee Show on Monday, shedding some light on what Pat McAfee called a “weird incident involving a teammate” that could’ve led to Wilkins’ contract being terminated by the team.

“Speaking to people inside the locker room, I think what everybody’s dancing around and tiptoeing around is the fact that, when you speak to people there inside the locker room, they say that Christian playfully went to kiss a teammate on top of his head,” Schefter stated. “Those same people said that the player took offense to it.

“So, that’s what everybody’s been dancing around and tap dancing around, an incident in the locker room where he allegedly playfully kissed a teammate on top of his head. That teammate felt offended by it. That’s what a lot of this talk and speculation that people have just been floating around out there is about.”

That’s certainly not what you expect to hear every day, especially as a reason for releasing a star player like Wilkins. However, Schefter later stressed that the decision from the Raiders had much more to due with a disagreement regarding the defensive tackle’s rehab than anything.

Still, it could signal to Wilkins perhaps not being a favorite among his teammates in the locker room. Even if that’s the case, he’s got the job done on the field in his career. During six seasons so far in the NFL, Wilkins has compiled 372 total tackles, including 22.5 sacks, four forced fumbles, five fumbe recoveries and an interception.

Additionally, he was the 13th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins and played his college ball at Clemson, where he helped the Tigers win two national championships. He’ll now be a free agent ahead of the 2025 season, and we’ll see if any team decides to take the bait.

— On3’s Barkley Truax contributed to this article.