Raiders risking much more than money with controversial Christian Wilkins release

The Las Vegas Raiders just made one of the most shocking moves of the offseason, releasing star defensive tackle Christian Wilkins after he completed just one year of the five-year, $110 million contract he signed with Las Vegas last offseason, according to The Athletic's Dianna Russini.

Wilkins had been battling a foot injury, and the two sides were arguing about how to proceed. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported that there is expected to be a fight over how much of the $57.5 million Wilkins was guaranteed in his deal that he's going to receive.

By controversially releasing Wilkins, the Raiders are risking far more than just money. They risk their reputation among other players, who, if we're being honest, will look at this whole ordeal and might not think so highly of the Raiders' franchise.

Raiders risk franchise's reputation among players after releasing Christian Wilkins

Releasing a player is within any organization's right. Players should not, and do not, bat an eye if players are released for performance reasons. This is a business at the end of the day. If the Raiders don't think Wilkins can play at a level worth the monster contract they gave him anymore, releasing him makes sense. The problem, though, is that a fight over guaranteed money is expected to take place.

Guaranteed money should be, well, guaranteed. The Raiders made a commitment to Wilkins that he, and almost certainly other players, believe should be honored. Along with their release of Wilkins, the Raiders voided the remaining $35.2 million of guaranteed money left on his contract.

We can argue whether the Raiders were justified when it came to voiding the guaranteed money in the contract because Wilkins declined to undergo surgery at the team's request, but players won't side with the organization over the player. NFL players want to get paid, and if they see an organization trying to find excuses to void guaranteed money, why would they want to play for said team?

Fair or not, players are going to look at the Raiders differently as a result of this. The Raiders, as mentioned above, made a commitment to Wilkins. They might believe they had a reason to void said commitment, but Wilkins, clearly, disagrees. Players in Wilkins' position might fear that a disagreement with the Raiders about how to come back from an injury could lead to the loss of all guaranteed money.

I get why the Raiders made this move, but it feels as if risking their reputation being scarred over this just isn't worthwhile.