Miami Dolphins News

Home

Quizzes

Watch

Newsletter

Miami Dolphins defensive tackle Christian Wilkins (94) Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

Miami Dolphins made a mistake by not giving star DT an extension

By Michael Isaac Jacobs | Last updated 9/1/23

Miami Dolphins defensive tackle Christian Wilkins looks like a happy-go-lucky guy on the field. When he’s mic’d up and dominant, it’s must-see reality television. He’s also a run-stuffing savant and easily one of the top-10 players at his position, but he will enter his fifth NFL season without a contract extension.

After this season, Wilkins will be an unrestricted free agent and could sign with another team. That would be disastrous for the Dolphins. Wilkins is a huge part of the defensive front, which is why it is sad that the Dolphins failed to lock him down to a long-term deal.

Wilkins staged a hold-in the past few weeks of camp, which he ended Tuesday. The former first-round pick will now be a full participant in team drills rather than do his own thing on the side.

"At this point, I'm just focused on being the best teammate I can be and being there for my guys, and getting ready to play a game again, focused on the season," Wilkins said, per SI.com. "As far as that's concerned, whether or not something gets done, I'm focused on the season — we've got a game to play in two weeks.”

Even though the team cleared dead money in recent days and has roughly $10 million in cap space, Dolphins GM Chris Grier could not reach an agreement with a player who has the best run-stop rate (40.8%) in the league since 2019.

“I've had a lot of great communication. I enjoy his agent. We have good conversations,” Grier said, per NFL.com. “For right now, we're going to hold off until, in my mind, at the end of the season.”

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Dolphins made an offer, but it wasn't to Wilkins' liking.

Despite the Dolphins clearing salary-cap space today, DT Christian Wilkins and Miami could not agree to terms on an extension. Wilkins’ team was not agreeable to the guarantee structure of the contract proposals, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 29, 2023

The Dolphins need to sign Wilkins. This is a cornerstone piece. That’s not to say that they should give in to every contract demand. But when you have a homegrown dude who is one of the most popular guys in the locker room and makes high-impact plays, it sends a positive message to the team to retain him.

If Wilkins gets injured in the short term, which could hurt his free-agent status, his teammates will notice. It is a cardinal sin in the NFL to not take care of your own star players, something the Dolphins have a bad track record of doing.

Exhibit A: Former first-round pick and current Pittsburgh Steeler Minkah Fitzpatrick recently was voted as the top safety in the league by The Associated Press. The Dolphins traded Fitzpatrick for what has amounted to offensive lineman Austin Jackson, who continues to struggle in pass protection.

Wilkins doesn’t seem like the type to need extra motivation on the field, but the Dolphins have basically cornered him into a "show-me" season. Although Wilkins recently said all the appropriate things to the media, the Dolphins have now allowed this issue to linger and possibly be a distraction during the season.

It is also interesting that the Dolphins chose to reward Zach Sieler — another interior defensive lineman — with a large extension earlier this week. It is hard to imagine that the Dolphins will invest heavily in both Sieler and Wilkins at pretty much the same position. It is probably a bad sign for Dolphins fans that team management shifted to Sieler when an agreement couldn't be reached with Wilkins.

The Dolphins should have just paid the man. Watch him go out and dominate. Then Wilkins will be more than happy to re-sign with the Dolphins, but it will be at a much higher rate.

More must-reads: