5 Teams That Make Sense for Christian Wilkins
Former Miami Dolphins and Las Vegas Raiders Christian Wilkins didn’t play in 2025 after being shockingly released by Las Vegas last summer, but the man is on his way back.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweeted last week, “Free-agent DT Christian Wilkins fully intends to play this season, but still is rehabbing his foot injury, per his agent David Mulugheta. So far 26 teams have reached out and are waiting for Wilkins to be ready, and Wilkins is expected to have a new home as soon as he wants.”
Minnesota still has a clean case to enter the Wilkins sweepstakes.
And with the new Wilkins sweepstakes, we have his top five landing spots ranked in ascending order (No. 1 = most realistic destination).
Wilkins Needs a New NFL Home; These Are the Fits
Wilkins will get a second chance soon, perhaps after the draft.
5. Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons let David Onyemata leave in free agency, as Onyemata chose Aaron Glenn’s team, the New York Jets. That’s a 78.2 Pro Football Focus grade and over 600 defensive snaps walking out the door.
Now, the Falcons are left with Zach Harrison, Ruke Orhorhoro, and Brandon Dorlus on the depth chart at defensive tackle. Those men all have youth on their side, but only Harrison is trending with an overly positive profile.
If Atlanta doesn’t exit April’s draft with an interior defensive line before the end of Round 3 or 4, Wilkins to Kevin Stefanski’s team makes sense.
4. New York Giants
Yeah, yeah, yeah — we get it: the Giants have Dexter Lawrence. Why on earth would they need Wilkins? Well, take a peek at the Giants’ interior defensive line depth chart, and Lawrence is about all New York has for quality defensive tackles.
Lawrence alone can always make New York’s iDL decent, but the combo of Roy Robertson-Harris, Darius Alexander, Sam Roberts, Marlon Tuipulotu, and Elijah Chatman isn’t quite enough for John Harbaugh’s team.
The Giants’ defense also ranked 27th in the NFL last per EPA/Play, which is layman’s terms for sixth-worst. Moreover, New York checked in at No. 28 per run-stop win rate last season. Not ideal. Wilkins would help fix Harbaugh’s defensive trenches.
3. Carolina Panthers
If you thought the Giants’ defensive tackle corps was weak, the Panthers have news for you. Here’s their DT depth chart as of late March:
- Bobby Brown III
- Tershawn Wharton
- Derrick Brown
- LaBryan Ray
- Cam Jackson
- Jaren Harrison-Hunter
Carolina added Jaelan Phillips for the edges of the defensive line two weeks ago, but it does not currently have a solution for the interior. It’s why so many mock drafts right now are connecting the Panthers to Clemson’s Peter Woods, for example, or Texas Tech’s Lee Hunter in Round 2.
The Panthers ranked dead last in run-stop win rate last season and ninth-worst in pass-rush win rate. In an emergent manner, Carolina needs a prominent defensive tackle, and Wilkins would be a step in the right direction.
t1. Minnesota Vikings
The case for Wilkins to Minnesota is quite simple.
- Brian Flores made Wilkjns his first draft pick down in Miami six seven years ago. He liked him then, he liked him for three seasons, and as recently as last summer, Flores spoke positively about the defender. The Flores connection makes the Vikings a number-one-with-a-bullet for Wilkins’ comeback tour.
- The Vikings electively released two starting defensive tackles this month: Javon Hargrave and Jonathan Allen. It’s pretty strange to do that with no clear replacement plan. It’s almost as if they know that they’ll sign Wilkins before too long.
The very vivid roster need and Flores connection cannot be denied when scouting Minnesota as a landing spot for Wilkins. It just makes too much sense.
t1. Jacksonville Jaguars
The current Jaguars defensive coordinator, Anthony Campanile, worked for the Dolphins for four seasons as a linebackers coach. Of course, Wilkins is not a linebacker or anything close to one, but Companile knows firsthand what Wilkins can do.
Jacksonville also ranked 31st in run-stop win rate last year, probably its most glaring team weakness inside an otherwise successful season. The Jaguars’ DTs? These guys:
- Arik Armstead
- DaVon Hamilton
- Maason Smith
- Matt Dickerson
- Keivie Rose
SportsNaut‘s Andrew Buller-Buss on the Jaguars as a Wilkins fit: “The Jaguars may want to inject even more talent into their defensive line, especially up the middle. Yet, with no draft selections until the 56th overall pick, that may be tough to do at this stage.”
“Plus, they likely have other priorities than selecting a DT at 56. Meanwhile, the Jaguars could potentially find a solution by signing Wilkins in free agency. Best of all, he won’t impact the compensatory pick formula, which should make Jaguars general manager James Gladstone happy.”
The Jaguars also don’t have a 1st-Round pick this year, selling that to Cleveland in 2025 for the package that landed WR/CB Travis Hunter.
Jacksonville needs a guy like Wilkins, and Campanile should know him well.
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