One controversial, major decision the Dolphins decided not to make is looking more and more like the right call

Defensive tackle Christian Wilkins was the "big fish" of free agency a year ago. He signed a four-year, $110 million contract with the Las Vegas Raiders last spring and collected a whopping $82.75 million in guarantees. His departure came after a long, contested negotiation effort with Miami and a career year in 2023, in which Wilkins nearly doubled his career sacks and QB hits as a pass rusher to pair with his elite run defending. 

The Dolphins made several passes at extending Wilkins but things got bad enough that Wilkins elected to "sit in" for most of training camp ahead of that 2023 season. By the time his career year was finished, the damage was done and Wilkins' bet on himself was set to pay off in a big way via free agency.

Wilkins, who turned 29 last season despite it being the first year he was off of his initial rookie contract, inked his deal in Las Vegas but had his season cut short on account of a foot injury. After playing nearly 4,000 snaps in five seasons with the Dolphins, Wilkins was limited to just 247 snaps with the Raiders in 2024. The wear and tear on Wilkins' body while serving as an ironman for Miami seemed to catch up with him. 

He's still recovering. 

Wilkins, who suffered a Jones fracture in his left foot, has been spotted intermittently this offseason still in a walking boot. And now, his rehab is set to officially inhibit the start of Wilkins' second season in Las Vegas. For a player who was the model of health and durability, Miami appears to have caught a fortunate break to see their efforts to re-sign Wilkins go unaccepted. 

Hopefully Wilkins can get back to 100% and be the version of himself that endeared him to so many Dolphins fans throughout the first five years of his career. But for a Dolphins team that seemed to battle injury issues to key players in each of the last several seasons, having someone else paying Wilkins to battle through his major injury and subsequent rehab appears to be a move that the Dolphins fell into getting right by sticking to their guns on their valuation of Wilkins.