A decision on Tua among things on Miami Dolphins to-do list

Extend Christian Wilkins

Defensive tackle Christian Wilkins is about to enter a very important offseason regarding his future. After the Dolphins picked up his fifth-year option last April, Wilkins was playing for a big-time extension, and he may have secured it after the year he just had. The former first-round pick from Clemson had a monster season, finishing with 98 tackles, 16 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, and two forced fumbles. Pro Football Focus graded Wilkins as the ninth-best interior defender with an overall grade of 82.2 while also grading him as the third-best against the run with a grade of 78.9.

When it comes to contract negotiations, if there aren’t any major character or injury concerns, it’s usually best to sign them earlier than later because the price is only going to go up, barring a major injury. The top-five highest-paid defensive tackles in the league are the Rams’ Aaron Donald (three years, $95 million), the Colts’ DeForest Buckner (four years, $84 million), the Chiefs’ Chris Jones (four years, $80 million), the Commanders’ Jonathan Allen (four years, $72 million), and the Buccaneers’ Vita Vea (four years, $71 million). Predicting NFL contract numbers is a fool’s errand, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility to see Wilkins commanding in that four years, $80 million range, given the projected increases in the salary cap.

Wilkins’ emergence as the anchor of the Miami defensive line helped jumpstart the unit’s improvement as a whole. It would be counter-productive to upend all the momentum from this year with a long stalemate that could lead to a holdout from training camp. If the Dolphins were smart, they’d start the talks as soon as possible and get it done.