Latest Christian Wilkins update confirms fears of fans

It will be a bit longer until Las Vegas Raiders fans get the chance to see defensive tackle Christian Wilkins again.

On Friday, the team confirmed that Wilkins is being placed on their Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list.

It is another setback in a run that has been filled with them for Wilkins. Signing a four-year, $110 million deal last offseason, the plan was for the defensive tackle to serve as an interior complement to Maxx Crosby. That plan blew up on the Raiders in just five games, as a Jones fracture to Wilkins’s foot ended his season prematurely.

Wilkins has yet to participate in on-field activities during the Raiders’ offseason training program, suggesting that he suffered a setback during his recovery and could need additional time off. Some reports even suggested Wilkins could have to go into surgery again, which would end his 2025 season before it even begins.

“He’s not ready to get back out. We’re in the midst of a long, challenging process,” said head coach Pete Carroll in May. “Fortunately, there’s a lot of time, and we’re going to take every bit of it. We’ve really tried to be really diligent in the way we’ve worked it and the way we’ve wanted it and all that, and he’s been on board the whole time. But it has been challenging.”

Wilkins can currently return to the active roster if he is removed from the PUP list anytime during training camp or the preseason. However, if he remains on the list at the time of the 53-man roster deadline, Wilkins will be ineligible to return to the active roster for the team’s first four games.

The timeline of Wilkins’s recovery is still up in the air, but the team has now set the clock on themselves for his return.