A controversial DT's injury woes and off-field conduct raise serious questions about his potential return to the NFL.
FRISCO - This plays like a bit from Will Ferrell's "Anchorman,'' only in this case, the media guy isn't mindlessly reading a cue card to his audience; he's seemingly mindlessly reading a tweet to his audience.
Tweets ESPN's Adam Schefter on free agent defensive tackle Christian Wilkins: "So far 26 teams have reached out and are waiting for Wilkins to be ready, and Wilkins is expected to have a new home as soon as he wants.''
I mean ... "I'm Ron Burgundy?''
Schefter's water-carrying here for agent David Mulugheta could not be more obvious. As Schefter himself notes, "Wilkins fully intends to play this season, but still is rehabbing his foot injury.''
So let's get this straight ...
Wilkins was cut by the Las Vegas Raiders back on July 24 over a “breach of contract” claim ... a move that came just a year after giving him a four-year, $110 million contract ... with the deal falling apart because the team believes he didn't properly rehab from a Jones fracture foot injury.
That injury occurred early in 2024, resulting in him missing 12 games that year. By this fall, Wilkins will have been rehabbing that foot and will have been away from football for two years.
He could've signed with a new team last year. Or this month. But ... nothing.
And ESPN is insisting that 26 teams are ready to sign Wilkins to be ready "as soon as he wants''?
Insanely, though, Wilkins' biggest problem isn't even with his foot.
Wilkins' time with the Miami Dolphins, before his big-money move to Vegas, was marked on the field by both his stellar play (over five seasons there he averaged five sacks per year) and dirty play. He gained a reputation for everything from twisting the ankles of opponents while finishing tackles to punching and grabbing the crotches of opponents while in pile-ups.
"It is what it is,'' Bills QB Josh Allen said a few years ago after being grabbed in that way by Wilkins, who was fined $13,261 by the NFL for the weird act. "He is a competitor. He's been known for that, going back to college.''
But now the 6-4, 300-pound former first-round pick from Clemson is known for one more thing.
Why else did the Raiders cut him? Flash back to a report from the aforementioned ESPN’s Adam Schefter ...
“Christian Wilkins, who was released by the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday, kissed a fellow player on the head and the teammate took offense to it … 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. A complaint was filed to the Raiders’ human resources department, which investigated the incident.”
And once again, Schefter is wrapping the truth in sugarcoating, as nobody we've talked to in the NFL believes there was anything "playful'' about Wilkins' behavior.
A guy doesn't get blackballed out of the league for two years because he "kissed a teammate on the head.''
It's far more reasonable to assume - given the HR filing and the team's firing of its talented employee - that Wilkins' actions were more offensive and nasty than an innocent peck on a buddy's head.
Our colleagues at Heavy are suggesting that the Cowboys should swoop in and take advantage of Wilkins' availability.
"All of that put together,'' they write, "might mean the time is now for the Cowboys — a franchise with a reputation of giving second chances — ends up being where Wilkins gets another shot at playing in the NFL.''
The response we get to that suggestion from a source?
"Bad guy, bad idea,'' our source said.
Christian Wilkins has an agent on his side. And in Schefter, he has a big-shot reporter is his side, too. But we doubt he has 26 bidders on his side. And even if he has any at all, in a locker room led by culture-conscious coach Brian Schottenheimer, we can't imagine why the Cowboys would be one of them.