Wilkins Discusses Dolphins’ Departure
The 2019 first-round pick got a monster contract with the Las Vegas Raiders this offseason.
Christian Wilkins is set to start on a new chapter in his NFL career, but he looks back warmly on his time with the Miami Dolphins.
Wilkins, who appeared on the Third And Long Podcast with Jacksonville Jaguars defensive tackle Arik Armstead, called his free agent move to the Las Vegas Raiders as “such a transition,” stating that he gave everything he had 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 providing a Pro Bowl-caliber performance for the Dolphins, Wilkins cashed in with a four-year contract worth $110 million. The $27.5 million annual average earned him the NFL’s second-highest-paid defensive lineman, trailing only Chris Jones of the Kansas City Chiefs (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,” said Wilkins. “Now that’s an honor I have, but it just confirms that you’ve done enough for people to see you the way you hope you saw yourself. I still have a lot of work ahead of me. Nothing will actually change for me. My process will be the same. I claimed I was not motivated by money. Yes, I put myself and my family in an excellent position. “The next generation of Wilkinses might be fine.”
“I’m just motivated by being the best, and hopefully I can stay on the correct track and do the things in my process to become the best player I can be, because that’s the most important thing you want. You want to exit the league healthily, knowing you’ve fulfilled your potential. You know, play as long as you can stay healthy and realize your full potential as a player, and I am fine 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.”
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