The Las Vegas Raiders have made a habit out of making bad football decisions over the last two decades and boy, has it been awesome to watch for LA Chargers fans. Every year Raiders fans get their hopes up and every year, they are let down.
But hey, at least they have those Super Bowls from 40+ years ago that the Chargers don't have. That will always be a talking point for Raiders fans, even if they were born long after those Super Bowls were won.
Chargers fans can point to the present to get ammunition for anti-Raiders takes. One of the many huge swings the Raiders have taken in recent years that isn't working out is Christian Wilkins. Signed by former Chargers GM Tom Telesco (who was fired by the Raiders after just one season), Wilkins has not lived up to his contract and is still recovering from a foot injury and could not participate in OTAs.
Chargers fans can't help but laugh as Christian Wilkins robs the Raiders blind
Wilkins signed a five-year, $110 million contract with the Raiders last offseason and the initial reaction for many Chargers fans was panic. After all, Wilkins established himself as one of the best interior defensive linemen in the league with the Dolphins and was particularly elite at defending the run.
We here at Bolt Beat took the opposite stance. Instead, it was quite comedic in the moment that the Raiders blew such a large portion of their salary cap on a run-stuffing defensive tackle who, at the best, was at the tail end of his prime.
Run-stuffing defensive tackles are important, but they aren't going to take a last-place team and turn it into a playoff team.
Wilkins played a grand total of five games for the Raiders in 2024. The veteran defensive tackle was okay in those games but he wasn't a game changer. He was solid against the run, decent against the pass, and that was it. He wasn't any better than Poona Ford, who the Chargers signed for the minimum.
Fast forward to today and Wilkins is still sitting out of team activities. Granted, there is plenty of time until the 2025 season and Wilkins is projected to be back for Week 1. However, it's still a painful reminder to Raiders fans how much the team paid for a defensive tackle past his prime.
The worst part for the Raiders is that the aggressive cap hits haven't even happened yet. Wilkins has a cap hit of $18.1 million in 2025 before it balloons to $37.675 million in 2026. The Raiders won't be able to get out of that cap hit as it would cost the team an additional $19.35 million in cap space.
The Raiders can cut Wilkins in 2027 to free up $13.825 million but they would still be paying over $19 million in cap space. Quite simply put, Wilkins is going to have a tangible impact on the books for at least three more seasons.
It might seem premature to talk about Wilkins being cut just one year after he signed a five-year deal. However, the first season of Wilkins' deal was supposed to be his best. He isn't going to get better as he heads into his 30s, especially if injuries are already happening.