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Raiders Get Promising News on Injured Starter

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Austin C. Boyd | Last updated Apr 29, 2025 4:03 PM ET

The biggest move the Las Vegas Raiders made last offseason was giving defensive tackle Christian Wilkins a $110 million contract in free agency. He played at a very high level for the team for five games before a Jones fracture caused him to miss the rest of the season.

With the Raiders being out of the playoff race early in the season, there was never any speculation about Wilkins potentially returning. However, there was a recent rumor that Las Vegas was concerned with his recovery.

Though Wilkins was recently seen in a walking boot, he's out of the boot now, and according to The Athletic's Tashan Reed, the Raiders aren't overly concerned about his status.

"Wilkins’ recovery from surgery to repair a Jones fracture has taken longer than the Raiders would’ve hoped, but the expectation is for him to be fully healthy by training camp, according to team sources," Reed wrote. "As long as that happens, he’ll form a nice duo with Butler. The depth along the interior behind them is a little suspect."

The Raiders' defensive line with Wilkins has a chance to be elite, but if they don't have him, the interior of the defensive line looks much weaker. If he stays healthy, he should form a very good duo with defensive end Maxx Crosby.

As of now, it looks like there's no reason to suspect that Wilkins won't be ready to play at the start of the regular season, but this will continue to be a situation to watch.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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