The Las Vegas Raiders just went through an ugly breakup with defensive tackle Christian Wilkins, only one season after signing him to a four-year, $110 million deal. While situations go south between players and NFL teams all the time, it sure feels like it happens at a higher rate for the Silver and Black.
It will take some time for the Raiders' front office and legal staff to sort through the grievance that Wilkins and his agent filed with the NFLPA. But Wilkins, who was perceived as a distraction by the new regime, is now out of the building and cannot affect the product on the field.
There is a player on the Los Angeles Chargers, however, who signed with the team this offseason and could be headed toward a similar fate to Wilkins. This would require the Chargers to take similar action and to have little patience like the Raiders, but it's certainly not out of the question.
Chargers could mimic Raiders' Christian Wilkins situation with Najee Harris
There are varying reports about what exactly happened between Wilkins and the Raiders, but what fans know is that there was a disagreement about his rehab process and a potentially strange incident that occurred with a teammate. This allowed the Raiders to void his guaranteed money.
Chargers running back Najee Harris got hurt outside of the building this summer, as he sustained an eye injury on the Fourth of July that has kept him out of training camp thus far. Los Angeles is two weeks into camp, but a fireworks-related incident has prevented him from taking the field at all.
Because of the nature of Harris' injury, there is a chance that the Chargers could head down a similar road to the Raiders and attempt to void his contract for a breach or violation. There are no rumblings on this front right now, but Las Vegas kept things quiet until they were ready to strike as well.
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Rookie Omarion Hampton is expected to be the starter in Los Angeles, and both Kimani Vidal and Hassan Haskins are fine as complementary backs. The Chargers only signed Harris to a one-year deal, so they might not have been very invested in him anyway.
His health is obviously the most important thing, but if Harris does not get on the field soon, it could boil over into being a major issue for the franchise. The Chargers certainly feel like they are in a window to seriously compete, and they cannot afford to have any dead weight dragging them down.
The circumstances are quite different, considering the deal they gave Harris was only worth up to $8 million, and that is far easier to eat than north of $35 million. But the Raiders set a blueprint with their recent release of Wilkins, and the Chargers could potentially follow suit.