MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — No Miami Dolphins unit has had a better training camp than their defensive line. And no defensive lineman has been better than Christian Wilkins.
Wilkins has been better than ever in his fifth training camp, bringing effort, energy, and dominance that has justified his reputation as the Dolphins’ defense’s heart and soul — not to mention one of the best interior defensive linemen in football.
And he’s done that with no guaranteed earnings beyond this season.
How Miami Dolphins DL Christian Wilkins Is Handling Contract Year
Wilkins is set to earn $10.8 million this year, a salary that the Dolphins fully guaranteed when they picked up his fifth-year option.
Wilkins is probably 50% underpaid, based on how the defensive tackle market has exploded this season. He’s a top-10 player at his position getting paid like a top-20 player. That will presumably change in 2024, when Wilkins will either get a long-term deal or get franchised.
Either way, he’ll make far more than he is now.
But given the not-for-long nature of the NFL and the actions of his contemporaries — Chris Jones, Nick Bosa, Josh Jacobs, and Zack Martin are all holding out for pay increases — you could forgive Williams if he wanted to accelerate that timeline.
But two weeks into camp, not only has Wilkins not made waves, he’s made splash play after splash play.
He’s practiced every day and has been incredibly disruptive. He’s constantly in the backfield and challenging the Dolphins’ interior offensive line in ways that has both exposed flaws and made them better.
“It’s classic Christian,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said prior to Thursday’s practice. “He goes about his daily business. He gets satisfaction on earned things. He doesn’t … That’s not in him. I think his teammates appreciate that they know that when he comes to work, they’re going to get his energy, and we’ve learned to counter that.”
Holding out is not in him. Neither is popping off to the media.
Wilkins has kept a low profile the first two weeks of camp, and that’s surely by design.
His practice tape — which includes a sack in the first 11 on 11 drill of Thursday’s practice — has done all the talking he needs.