Wilkins Discusses Dolphins Departure

The 2019 first-round pick signed a monster contract with the Las Vegas Raiders in the offseason

Dec 24, 2023; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Miami Dolphins defensive tackle Christian Wilkins (94) / Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

Christian Wilkins is about to embark on the new chapter of his NFL life, but he looked back fondly on his time with the Miami Dolphins.

Appearing on the Third And Long Podcast with Jacksonville Jaguars defensive lineman Arik Armstead, Wilkins described his move to the Las Vegas Raiders via free agency as “such a transition,” saying he gave everything he had during his time in Miami.

“It's such a transition,” Wilkins said on the podcast. “There was nothing more that I wanted to do than to bring Miami a winner and give this city, give these people, give this organization what it deserved. So that was obviously just a lot of my focus just to at least do my part, whatever that was from a leadership standpoint, or from a playing standpoint, from a community standpoint, I just tried to always do my part and put my best foot forward there and just put literally my heart and soul into every aspect of everything while I was here with the Dolphins. Now it's different. It's a little tough now moving to another organization again after you put so much into a team and an organization but I definitely feel like I'm ready for it. I'm excited for this new challenge and I definitely feel like it's part of my purpose, and it's just part of God's plan for me just to shine my light in another city and another location.”

After playing last season on his fifth-year option, and delivering a Pro Bowl-caliber performance for the Dolphins, Wilkins cashed in when he landed a four-year contract worth $110 million. The $27.5 million annual average made him the second-highest-paid defensive tackle in the NFL behind only the Kansas City Chiefs’ Chris Jones (now that Aaron Donald has retired).

“Honestly, it's obviously a cool accomplishment and a cool accolade, but my mind-set is different because I was never motivated by money or whatever,” Wilkins said. “Now that's an accolade that I do have but it just kind of confirmed, all right, you've done enough to where people see you the way you hope that you were able to see yourself. And, again, I’ve still got a lot of work ahead of me. Nothing's really gonna change for me. My process is gonna be the same again. I said I wasn't motivated by money. Yes, I put myself and my family in a great situation. The next generations of Wilkinses might be all right."

“I'm just motivated simply by being the best and hopefully I can just continue on the right path and just do the things in my process and work to become the best player I could be because that's the biggest thing you want. You want to leave the league healthy and know you reached your potential. You know, play as long as you can be healthy and just reach your potential as a player and I'm cool with that."

WILKINS HAS PRAISE FOR TUA

During the almost-hour-long interview, Wilkins touched on various topics, one of them being the development of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, particularly in light of Cam Newton’s comments putting Tua among those Newton says are “system quarterbacks.”

"I really had a front row seat to Tua and his growth and his development as a player, as a teammate and a leader, all that," Wilkins said. "He came in the year after I was drafted, so I was able to see his whole process and everything like that and it's just been cool to watch. In a way we kind of had similar stories; he was obviously highly successful at Alabama, national championships and all that good stuff. So now you come into the league and it's like, allright, now what, like this ain't college no more kind of thing.

"Oviously he went through his stuff, had his struggles early, but now Pro Bowl and all that and I don't care what system or what scheme or anything like that. I mean, you're the one out there still playing, so definitely shout-out to him, just the things he's been able to do and accomplish. It was just cool having a front row seat to watch his development as a player."