The New England Patriots are pretty well set along the defensive line, but head coach Mike Vrabel said Friday the team will kick the tires about signing recently released defensive tackle Christian Wilkins.
In a bit of a surprising move, Wilkins was released by the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday. The team also voided the rest of the $35.2 million of guaranteed money he was after the two sides had engaged in a feud over the 29-year-old's recovery from a foot injury last season.
We'll see if Wilkins ultimately ends up in New England, but he does have a number of ties to the area. He's a Springfield native who originally attended Framingham High School before he transferred to Suffield Academy in Connecticut after his freshman season. Vrabel knows Wilkins pretty well himself, the Patriots coach revealed Friday morning.
"I know Christian; I recruited him when he was up here in the area in Connecticut going to high school," Vrabel said ahead of Friday's training camp practice in Foxboro. "So I'm sure we'll have a conversation about it."
Vrabel was on the Ohio State coaching staff when Wilkins was in high school, and recruited the defensive tackle before he ultimately ended up at Clemson. Wilkins won two national championships with the Tigers and was a unanimous All-American in 2018, before he was drafted 13th overall by the Miami Dolphins in the 2019 NFL Draft.
Wilkins had 3.5 sacks over his first two NFL seasons, but started every game for Miami from 2021-23. He racked up 17 sacks over those three seasons, including a career-high 9.0 sacks in 2023. That big year earned him a four-year, $110 million deal from the Raiders last offseason.
But the relationship soured pretty quickly, and the Raiders opted to cut ties with Wilkins on Thursday.
What happened with Christian Wilkins and the Raiders?
The issue between Wilkins and the Raiders stemmed from a foot injury he suffered last season. He had two sacks in his first five games, but suffered a Jones Fracture and ended up on season-ending IR in October. The team wanted him to have surgery on the foot, but Wilkins declined, according to NFL Media's Ian Rapoport. He opted to rehab in the injury instead, which led to a lot of discourse between him and the team.
It ultimately led to his release Thursday. Las Vegas cut Wilkins with a "terminated vested veteran" designation, and he'll now avoid waivers and have a chance to pick his next team. He's also filed a grievance with the NFLPA over the voided guaranteed money by Las Vegas.
Wilkins was on PUP before he was released, so it's unclear if he'll even be able to play in the upcoming season or what he'd be able to add to a team. Should he end up in New England, it would make Week 1 of the NFL season a little more interesting with the Patriots opening the year against the Raiders at Gillette Stadium.
