Christian Wilkins Ended Up Making Absurd Amount of Money Per Game Playing for Raiders

Nearly $10 million per game.

Christian Wilkins’s time in Las Vegas came to a sudden and shocking end on Thursday. / Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

The Raiders shocked the NFL world on Thursday with their decision to release defensive tackle Christian Wilkins after just one season with the team.

Dianna Russini of The Athletic reported that the split with Wilkins had been “simmering for months,” and stemmed from a disagreement between the team and player regarding how Wilkins handled his recovery from a foot injury suffered last season.

In a statement, the Raiders appeared to shade Wilkins a bit, writing “This franchise has a commitment of excellence on and off the field. With no clear path or plan for future return to play from Christian, this transaction is necessary for the entire organization to move forward and prepare for a new season."

Wilkins signed an impressive four-year, $110 million deal with Las Vegas just last year. As noted by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Wilkins had already made $49.7 million of the $110 million he was owed by the team at the time of his release.

That $49.7 million comes after Wilkins played just five games last year for the Raiders before suffering his Jones fracture. The result is that his per-game pay rate in Las Vegas is up there with some of the highest we’ve ever seen in sports—nearly $10 million per game.

Christian Wilkins made $29.2M last year and $20.5M this year already.

That’s $49.7M for 5 games. He had another $8M on the books for 2025. https://t.co/PxOp01xPBL

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 24, 2025

When the Raiders released Wilkins, they did so with the designation of terminated vested veteran, per ESPN. The team voided the last $35.2 million in guaranteed money remaining on his contract.

Wilkins has filed a grievance with the NFLPA regarding the matter.

---

More NFL on Sports Illustrated

feed