The Las Vegas Raiders are bringing in a former Kansas City Chiefs draft bust to help fill the void, following the shocking news of their decision to move on from $110 million star defensive tackle Christian Wilkins.
ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter reported the addition on July 25, noting that the “Raiders claimed DT Keondre Coburn via waivers from the [Tennessee] Titans.”
A 2023 sixth-round pick out of Texas, Coburn was the Chiefs’ first attempt at finding a new nose tackle of the future, with Derrick Nnadi regressing at the time and Khalen Saunders leaving for the New Orleans Saints in free agency.
Unfortunately for Kansas City, Coburn didn’t cut it with the Chiefs. The rookie appeared in 1 game in 2023 before being waived and claimed by the division rival Denver Broncos.
Before long, the defensive tackle prospect was back on waivers again, and KC eventually re-signed him to the practice squad with very uneventful results. Which then landed him in Tennessee by the end of his rookie campaign.
Coburn seemed to improve his NFL stock a bit with the Titans, appearing in 19 games from December of 2023 through 2024 (22 total tackles). Still, he didn’t do enough to impress the new regime led by ex-Chiefs assistant general manager Mike Borgonzi, who is now the GM in Tennessee.
The Raiders are the latest team to take a flier on Coburn, as they need any defensive tackle help they can find after the Wilkins disaster.
In case you missed the latest Raiders debacle, we’ll catch you up on the situation.
On July 24, Schefter broke the latest news that will likely injure the bitter Chiefs rival, stating: “ESPN sources: Raiders are releasing defensive tackle Christian Wilkins with the designation of terminated vested veteran. His time in Las Vegas is now over.”
“Due to how Wilkins treated the rehab from his foot injury he suffered last season, the Raiders voided the remaining $35.2 million of guaranteed money left on Wilkins’ contract last month and today, Wilkins filed a grievance with the NFLPA,” the insider added.
Veteran NFL insider Josina Anderson also reported that “some league sources believe an incident involving a teammate may have factored in-part into the Raiders’ fatigue and release of defensive tackle Christian Wilkins.”
Anderson added later that “another league source said they expect that the Raiders are going to be tasked with showing that Wilkins’ decision regarding his own injury management was not ‘reasonable, effective, and that his choice was significantly prohibitive moving forward.'”
On the massive release, new Raiders head coach Pete Carroll said: “We took a long time to make our decision and we watched our way through the whole thing. We’re keeping really clear with what we said. I think there was no clear path to his return and so we just had to move on.”
The Raiders’ official X account also released a statement, which read: “We have decided that it is in the best interests of the organization to move on from Christian Wilkins and he has been informed of his release from the team. This franchise has a Commitment to 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 the new season.”
The Raiders were already projected to finish fourth in the AFC West in 2025, according to most estimations. This Wilkins news clearly doesn’t help, as the Chiefs’ long-time rival can’t seem to get out of its own way, no matter who is in charge.
With the Broncos and the Los Angeles Chargers improving this offseason, it’s not a stretch to say that the Raiders could quickly find themselves in the cellar of this division once again.
And for the Chiefs, that puts them one step closer to another AFC West title.
