How much of a loss is Wilkins, really? | Page 2 | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

How much of a loss is Wilkins, really?

How much of a loss is Wilkens, really?

  • Huge loss - no question about it.

    Votes: 16 11.2%

  • A loss, but not insurmountable.

    Votes: 61 42.7%

  • Paying him would have crippled the team - addition through subtraction.

    Votes: 57 39.9%

  • Wilkens is a bit overrated - think Suh... top $$$ for very little return.

    Votes: 9 6.3%
  • Total voters
    143
I understand if yall think Wilkins was asking for too much but Miami should have traded instead of letting him walk. I don't understand the celebration of getting a comp pick. They asked him to improve his sack total and he did. However, I think most lose sight of the fact that he had over 10 tackles for loss over the last 3 seasons. Tackles for loss are the same as a sack for me, it's just another player other than QB.
 
Wilkins, good but not great as in $27.5 million a season. Those two things make him expendable and replaceable. Trade talk is great, making it happen with a contract situation looming is more challenging. No comparison to Suh as the system and talent level was way different. Re-signing him would have crippled FA for this team. Good luck with your new team, you'll likely need it.
 
ForksPhin said:
I didn’t particularly like any of the choices. Mainly because I didn’t agree with the “addition by subtraction” part. Bottom line, I just can’t find any way to justify paying him $27.5m per year. It’s a loss any time that you lose a good player, though. And Wilkins is a good player. I don’t see him as a game-changing player, though. You pay game-changers $25m+.

No one would confuse Wilkins with prime Aaron Donald.
Click to expand...
I was thinking the same thing - I think it's a huge loss...that said I think not paying him that much was the right choice...that doesn't really fall under any of these options....
 
RastaMan407 said:
I understand if yall think Wilkins was asking for too much but Miami should have traded instead of letting him walk. I don't understand the celebration of getting a comp pick. They asked him to improve his sack total and he did. However, I think most lose sight of the fact that he had over 10 tackles for loss over the last 3 seasons. Tackles for loss are the same as a sack for me, it's just another player other than QB.
Click to expand...

Wilkins would have had to agree to a sign and trade. We may never know if that was attempted.
 
I think the vast majority of people will settle on (B) and (C) as they are two sides of the same coin.

There's a really interesting fact many miss.

If you look at the 2019 draft you find 5 DL that all went in rapid succession.

>> It is most likely the greatest run of DL (or maybe Defense in general) in NFL history (at least in terms of shear $$$):

Pick #13 - 4yr / $110M - Christian Wilkins
Pick #16 - 5yr / $141M - Brian Burns
Pick #17 - 4yr / $90M - Dexter Lawrence
Pick #19 - 4yr / $94M - Jeffry Simmons
Pick #26 - 4yr / $98M - Montez Sweat

The only other Defensive selection in there was FS Darnell Savage at pick #21. Even he signed a long-term extension (4yr) with the GB Packers although it was for only $12.5M.

Think about it...that is almost $550M earned by 6 straight defensive draft picks!!!

Each one (outside of Wilkins ironically) has made the Pro Bowl. Wilkins certainly deserves that honor.
All obviously signed massive contracts.
Only 2 of those 5 signed with their original team.

It's fascinating to think about the alternative histories we might've witnessed if we went with Lawrence or Simmons. Both are more disruptive than Wilkins and who knows, we might've made more of an effort to build around those guys because they allow for cheaper DEs on the outside. Heck, if we could've gotten Wilkins on a 4-yr, $90M deal Grier probably would have signed him last year!

If Miami had selected Burns, we definitely wouldn't have both Chubb and Phillips here (probably one or the other) so that's at least one R1 pick we might've spent elsewhere such as OL.



This is why I always say, you can't just look at players like Wilkins as "hits" in a vacuum. Your hits have to line up and reinforce each other. It's very hard to get it right and requires a lot of luck TBH.

This string also shows that it wasn't simply Chris Grier being a genius. This was just a great string of players all sitting there and Miami happened to need some DL talent at the right time. Most were predicting pre-draft that we'd take Wilkins.


Personally, I think we'll miss Wilkins run-stuffing abilities a lot but hey, we were never going to re-sign him with this roster so there's no point in worrying about the fact he's now a Raider. We were never going to throw that money at him.

We just have to march forward and try to replace his production in the aggregate.
 
Last edited:
ForksPhin said:
I didn’t particularly like any of the choices. Mainly because I didn’t agree with the “addition by subtraction” part. Bottom line, I just can’t find any way to justify paying him $27.5m per year. It’s a loss any time that you lose a good player, though. And Wilkins is a good player. I don’t see him as a game-changing player, though. You pay game-changers $25m+.

No one would confuse Wilkins with prime Aaron Donald.
Click to expand...

Exactly. For me it was a loss, but not insurmountable. We need solid DT play. I cant justify almost 30 million for a position I'd like solid play from. Let the DEs and Lbers do their jobs and be the dynamic players (and those are the ones you pay good money for).
 
TheMageGandalf said:
Exactly. For me it was a loss, but not insurmountable. We need solid DT play. I cant justify almost 30 million for a position I'd like solid play from. Let the DEs and Lbers do their jobs and be the dynamic players (and those are the ones you pay good money for).
Click to expand...
Yeah. There’s only like One Aaron Donald per 20 years or so. He’s the only guy like that you pay like that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom