Raiders Start Their Free Agency With A Major Splash On Both Sides
Las Vegas Raiders Make A Huge Splash Signing Defensive Tackle Christian Wilkins Lose Running Back Josh Jacobs To Green Bay Packers
According to ESPN Adam Schefter the Las Vegas Raiders have signed defensive tackle Christian Wilkins to a 4 year $110 Million contract, with $84.7 Million fully guaranteed.
This is exciting news for the team and its fanbase is an understatement. Wilkins has spent his whole career with the Miami Dolphins after being the 13th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. Wilkins has played in 81 games in his career, starting in 77 of them. He has recorded 355 career tackles along with 20.5 career sacks and 4 career forced fumbles.
He was also part of 2 national championship teams while attending Clemson University, which is always an added benefit when the player comes from a winning program. Winning programs breed a winning mentality, something that the Raiders' locker room badly needs.
Bringing in Wilkins is a huge upgrade at the position and is exactly who Antonio Pierce and Tom Telesco needed to bring in to show the Raider Nation that they mean business! The Raider Nation is salivating over the projected defensive line going forward, and even though they brought in a guy like Wilkins, they still need to bring some depth for that defensive line going forward.
But overall, how can you not be excited for how the defensive line is shaping up? You will have All-Pro edge rusher Maxx Crosby, second-year first-round pick Tyree Wilson, and Malcom Koonce, who had a fantastic end of the year with the team in 2023, along with Wilkins.
Adding a player like Wilkins shows that the Raiders' front office knows what they need to do to be successful and win in the AFC West. They know that they need to put Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert, and the future Broncos starting QB on their ass next year. Adding a player like Wilkins will help them achieve that, and I hope all 3 QBs will be running around like Mahomes was during the Raiders' Christmas Day victory in Arrowhead.
On a different note running back Josh Jacobs has signed a 4 year deal with the Green Bay Packers worth $48 million, with $13 million fully guaranteed according to Sportrac .
I know some Raiders fans will be upset with this, but there is no way the Raiders would have been able to sign Wilkins if they gave the same contract to Jacobs as the Packers did. $12 million a year is a lot for a running back, and I'm guessing the team is happy with Zamir White.
They should be based on his performance at the end of the year when he took over the starting job while Jacobs was injured. In the end, there was no way the Raiders could have signed Jacobs for that much money, especially when they have other holes to fill.
This signing might come as a surprise to some Raiders fans, and some might feel a bit betrayed after Jacobs's comments on re-signing with the team if they retain Antonio Pierce as their head coach. But let's take the emotion out of it. I don't think Jacobs wanted to leave the team, but I also think he wasn't expecting a team to sign him for top dollar.
So let's not bash the guy, Raider Nation. It was a business decision on his end, and I don't blame him one bit for taking that contract. He might have seen the writing on the wall after White's performance at the end of the year.
So we should thank Josh Jacobs for the endless effort he put in while competing as a Raider. He should always be remembered as one of the greatest running backs the Raiders have ever had. I'm not saying he was Marcus Allen or Bo Jackson, but I think he's in the top 5 of Raiders running backs ever.
That list could be debated, and I'm not going to do that here. Regardless, the fans should not boo him when we play the Packers in the upcoming seasons; we should thank him for his work as a Raider. He did a damn good job as a Raider, and I wish him a lot of success in Green Bay.
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