As bad as things were for Christian Wilkins in his first season with the Las Vegas Raiders, there is reportedly a chance they could get worse in 2025.
Wilkins played in just five games last season, which was his first in Las Vegas after signing a four-year, $110 million contract. Wilkins suffered a Jones fracture that required surgery and kept him out after Week 5.
Updates on Wilkins' foot have been all over the place. First, he shed his walking boot late last season, but had to start wearing it again this offseason after he suffered a setback, per reports.
The last we heard, Wilkins wasn't practicing but was out of the boot again. However, it doesn't appear Wilkins is out of the woods yet.
According to Mitchell Renz of Chat Sports' Raiders Report, Wilkins might need another surgery, and if he does indeed get it, he'll miss the entire 2025 season.
Renz added that Wilkins doesn't want to get the surgery, but the Raiders' medical team is advising him to do so.
“Christian Wilkins needs another surgery and could be out the entire season,” Renz said. "I had a source reach out to me yesterday… and unfortunately dropped this horrific news on my plate.
“Here’s what I know as it stands right now," he added. "Wilkins does, in fact, need another surgery… I’m telling you that somebody that I trust told me yesterday that it is a fact that [Wilkins] is going to have to undergo another surgery.”
Renz isn't the only one who has shared this information. Sportskeeda's Tony Pauline reported back in May that Wilkins might need another surgery.
“They addressed the interior of that defensive line position. As I mentioned right before the draft, there’s a problem with Christian Wilkins’ foot. He may need another procedure,” Pauline said.
It's important to note that Renz is not a traditional news-breaker, and this most recent injury update has not been reported by any NFL insider or Raiders beat reporter. So, take that for what it's worth.
If true, this is a disastrous turn of events for the Raiders. Even if Wilkins doesn't get the surgery in that scenario, one would assume his foot is a ticking time bomb.
Wilkins still has two more years left on his contract after 2025, and the only viable out in it comes after 2026, when the Raiders can cut him with a dead-cap hit of $19.8 million pre-June 1, or a $9.9 million dead-cap hit post-June 1 that year.
