Christian Wilkins won’t receive franchise tag from Miami Dolphins
Chris Mortensen, esteemed NFL reporter, dies at 72
Award-winning reporter Chris Mortensen, who covered the NFL for ESPN for over three decades, has died at the age of 72, his family announced.
unbranded – Sport
At the NFL Scouting Combine, just days ago, general manager Chris Grier said the Dolphins did have the resources to franchise tag star defensive tackle Christian Wilkins.
But Miami is choosing not to.
As reported by NFL Network, the Dolphins are going to allow Wilkins, one of their best players, to hit the free agency market on March 13.
He won’t be easy to replace.
Wilkins is physical and tough and he was the emotional heart beat of the Dolphins defense.
Grier made the right call in 2019, making Wilkins the first pick of Miami’s rebuild era.
But now Wilkins won’t be here if in fact Miami gets over the hump and actually wins a playoff game for the first time in 24 seasons.
At least unless something unexpected happens, and Wilkins agrees to accept something close to what Miami had previously offered on a long-term deal.
“We were close on a deal last offseason,” Grier said. “It didn’t come together.”
Money, of course, is the biggest reason.
Miami has the NFL’s second-worst salary cap deficit in the NFL at the moment. According to Spotrac, the Dolphins are at minus-$28.5 million, worse than all but Buffalo, at -$41.2 million.
Miami is going to have to restructure some deals – Tyreek Hill? Jalen Ramsey? Bradley Chubb? – in order to be compliant at the start of the new league year, which also begins March 13.
The Dolphins were hopeful a long-term deal could be reached that would have included a 2024 cap hit lower than the $22.1 million defensive tackle franchise tag number.
Even though the NFL’s salary cap is going to be a lot higher than projected, Miami must not have thought it could make that franchise number work.
Dolphins reportedly won’t franchise tag Christian Wilkins
We had advocated in this space for the importance of finding a way to make a Wilkins contract extension work.
Miami appears to strategically disagree.
The Dolphins are moving on, believing I suppose, that they can survive and even flourish without him.
As Dads, and NFL GMs, sometimes say, money is tight.
If the Tua Tagovailoa contract talks go into the summer, that won’t help Miami’s salary cap situation now.
And, in the near future, they’ll need to extend young stars like Jaylen Waddle, Jaelan Phillips and Jevon Holland.
On the surface, this is a painful loss.
Wilkins had his best season in 2023, betting on himself and winning.
The Dolphins are fortunate that they have effective defensive tackle Zach Sieler under contract for three more years, at a reasonable $30.8 million.
And they’ll have to add a defensive tackle who fits into the new scheme that will be run by incoming defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver.
Could they pursue young star Justin Madubuike, who blossomed under Weaver in Baltimore last year?
Well, yes, except that he’ll be very pricey, too.
And, not to bring Ndamukong Suh into this, but how much money does Miami want to allocate for the defensive tackle position? Grier, like most GMs, is always going to prioritize cornerbacks and edge rushers.
And Miami is cutting cornerback Xavien Howard.
And Miami has cut edge rusher Emmanuel Ogbah.
And Miami’s top two edge rushers, Phillips and Chubb, are coming back from serious injuries.
Wilkins was the Dolphins’ union rep, and so it stands to reason that he probably wasn’t going to accept any contract that wasn’t considered market setting.
Other players have and likely will take a bit less to play in Miami. Why? No state income tax. The weather. The facilities. The positive reputation of head coach Mike McDaniel and his staff.
Wilkins likely would have been quite a disgruntled franchise tagee.
And so, it appears, Miami just moves on.
The risk here is that the Dolphins are letting a very talented player, groomed in their program, just walk away for nothing. Yes, there is the decent chance they’ll receive a compensatory pick next year.
Christian Wilkins decision: He was a foundational Miami Dolphin
And yes, Miami is short on picks this year and could use some more. (Not to bring tampering and the loss of a third-round pick this year into the discussion.)
But it’s really had to believe a 2025 third-rounder will come close to having the impact Wilkins can have on a game. No, he’s not Aaron Donald. But Wilkins made more impact plays last year than he had throughout the otherwise very solid start to his career.
One negative to the loss of Wilkins is that despite his cheery demeanor in game video captured by Hard Knocks and the club, he was an on-field brawler.
Miami needs more of that, not less.
The Dolphins could stand to add a few glass-eating, street fighters, as opposed to deleting them.
Well, they’ll probably have to find a few at a lower price point.
The Dolphins’ plan to tear the franchise down to its studs and load up with waves of talented high draft choices seemed sound.
Dolphins success in NFL Draft yields too many to keep
Except it has yet to produce a single playoff victory.
And at a certain point, that talented wave of players on rookie contracts come crashing in together with their hands out for extensions.
More: Snoring? Bugs? Mold? Be glad, Dolphins, you don’t have to live like other teams | Habib
And they can’t all be kept.
“Every year you can’t go and make those moves that people get excited for,” Grier said. “You’ve seen it around the league, that it’s not sustainable. At some point you have to reel it back a little bit and add some youth and influx, and then cherry pick here and there.”
The Dolphins appear to have picked to move on without Wilkins.
Time will tell how much that decision hurts.
Joe Schad is a journalist covering the Miami Dolphins and the NFL at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at [email protected] and follow him on Instagram and on X @schadjoe. Sign up for Joe’s free weekly Dolphins Pulse Newsletter. Help support our work by subscribing today.
