Former Dolphins star Christian Wilkins released by Raiders but fans should pump the brakes about hoping for a reunion
There are stunning developments, and then there's what just happened between the Las Vegas Raiders and former Miami Dolphins defensive tackle Christian Wilkins. Wilkins, who left the Dolphins after five stellar years of play to sign with Las Vegas ahead of the 2024 season for a monster $27.5 million per year contract that guaranteed him $57.5 […]
There are stunning developments, and then there's what just happened between the Las Vegas Raiders and former Miami Dolphins defensive tackle Christian Wilkins.
Wilkins, who left the Dolphins after five stellar years of play to sign with Las Vegas ahead of the 2024 season for a monster $27.5 million per year contract that guaranteed him $57.5 million in total, has been released by Las Vegas due to a dispute over his ailing foot.
Christian Wilkins released just one year into a four-year, $110 million contract
Wilkins was a snap-taking machine for Miami from 2021 through 2023 and logged in excess of 1,000 total snaps between defense and special teams in both 2022 and 2023 before leaving the Dolphins. He suffered a Jones fracture in his left foot in October of last season, limiting him to five total games and less than 25% of the total snaps played for the Raiders last season.
Wilkins would be intermittently spotted in a walking boot throughout the course of the offseason as his rehab program appeared failed to generate any traction towards a full return to the field. Now, according to reports, Wilkins and the Raiders were in conflict on whether or not Wilkins needed to go under the knife for a corrective surgery.
The indications suggest that Wilkins declined to have the procedure, which has prompted in his (disputed) release from the team. Wilkins has reportedly filed a dispute with the NFLPA over his release designation.
The idea of reuniting Christian Wilkins with the Dolphins may be an enticing one for Miami fans, but given the team's desire to mitigate injury risk and their investements into young players along the defensive interior, signing Wilkins back for anything other than a veteran minimum contract feels like unnecessary risk for the sake of nostalgia. The Dolphins, after several efforts to ultimately re-sign Wilkins before he left in free agency, have moved on. That's before you even consider the question of if Wilkins, who was not ready for the start of training camp, will even be able to suit up this season.
If Miami wants to spend money on a defensive tackle, there's a very deserving one already in-house who has been hoping for a contract extension this summer.
One controversial, major decision the Dolphins decided not to make is looking more and more like the right call
One of the biggest challenges to maintaining a team's success annually is to get your internal evaluations right. Which members of your franchise are going in the right direction? How well equipped are you to sustain their current performance long-term? For the Miami Dolphins, it's been a bit of a sore spot. Players like Robert […]
