Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast Offers You An Insider Look at What New DT Christian Wilkins Brings to the Silver and Black
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00:00 Hi everybody, this is Hondo Carpenter from the Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast.
00:06 As you know from Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation, Raiders Today, super excited to bring
00:11 back again as a guest again, my coworker, my colleague from Sports Illustrated's Fan
00:17 Nation, All Dolphins, the great Alan Poupar, not only a great reporter, but happens to
00:22 be a great personal friend and our families certainly feel that way reciprocated towards
00:27 each other.
00:28 Alan, good to talk to you again, buddy.
00:29 It seems like I was just with you at the Combine.
00:31 I know, right?
00:32 We've got to stop meeting like this and before I say anything else, a happy birthday, my
00:36 friend.
00:37 Yeah, absolutely.
00:38 Thank you so much.
00:39 Now, Alan, we talked about this at the Combine.
00:45 I told you that the Raiders were going to make a significant push and go after Wilkins.
00:49 They loved them.
00:50 They do.
00:51 I want to go over the specifics with you because I think the Raiders did not overpay.
00:58 They were frugal, but not cheap.
01:02 And I'll give you an example.
01:03 If they think a guy's worth 10, they're not going to pay 10-5, but they're not going to
01:07 offer them 7 either.
01:09 They believe in paying their guys what they think they're worth.
01:11 So Christian gets a four year, $110 million deal, $84.6 million guaranteed.
01:19 Now, a couple of things about this deal stand out to me.
01:25 Number one, they think he is a superstar.
01:28 Him and Aaron Donald, 1A and 1B.
01:31 And it depends on who you're talking to, who's the best defensive tackle between the two
01:34 of them.
01:35 High motor, super high motor.
01:39 He's going to be very effective in the run game, very effective in the pass rush.
01:44 He's a guy that's going to be out there.
01:46 He's not going to be a cancer in the locker room.
01:48 Guys aren't going to hate him.
01:49 Guys aren't going to dislike him.
01:51 The coaches here have some history.
01:54 He is a guy that's going to come in.
01:56 Now, the media may not like it because he just doesn't enjoy doing the media, but you
02:00 and I both know that doesn't make you a good or bad person.
02:03 He just, he's not a jerk to the media.
02:05 He just, he doesn't like it.
02:06 And he's very honest about it.
02:08 I don't enjoy doing it.
02:09 I don't like it.
02:10 So I'm good with that.
02:11 I've dealt with a lot.
02:12 Jerry Tillery was a guy who's now left that was like that.
02:15 So I have no issue with that whatsoever.
02:19 But let's talk first.
02:21 He's one of the best high motor, great locker room guy, great practice guy.
02:27 This was a big deal for the Raiders.
02:30 Why didn't the Dolphins re-sign him?
02:32 Because they lost quite a few pieces today.
02:34 Was it all salary cap?
02:37 Most of it was salary cap.
02:39 And let me backtrack a little bit, if I may.
02:42 He's a very good player.
02:44 I think if you start mentioning him along the same lines as Aaron Donald, this is where,
02:47 I don't know if you noticed, I made kind of a face where I would be like, I think temporary
02:53 expectations a little bit.
02:55 Because, and as Dolphin, a lot of Dolphin fans have point out, he recorded a career
03:02 high nine sacks last season.
03:05 Most of those, every one of those except one against the Bills in the season finale where
03:10 he got the sack strip fumble recovery were in blowouts against bad teams.
03:18 He's not a guy who's going to take over a game.
03:21 I mean, let's say again, which is why I think all of us down here were like, we're expecting
03:27 him to get big numbers because of what the defensive tackle position did last year because
03:34 of the crazy contract Chris Jones got.
03:36 Chris Jones also way more impactful than Christian Wilkins.
03:40 So to answer your question as I circle around it, it was a combination.
03:45 The Dolphins tried to resign Christian Wilkins to a long-term extension last offseason.
03:50 He wanted more than they were willing to give.
03:52 They already had him on the fifth year option.
03:55 So they went ahead and go, okay, well, we can't work out a deal, so let's play.
04:00 And then this year they decided not to franchise tag him, which would have cost him 22 million,
04:06 which in retrospect, you can make the argument, why wouldn't the Dolphins do that for one
04:10 year since a lot of the moves they had made in the offseason prior to that kind of spoke
04:17 about going all in.
04:19 And I think in the final analysis, the Dolphins have other players who are coming up that
04:22 they're going to have to give big contracts to like Javon Holland, Jalen Waddell, Jalen
04:25 Phillips.
04:26 It looks like they're going to sign to a long-term extension in the offseason.
04:31 And there's only so many big contracts they can give out.
04:35 And I think what the Dolphins decided is if you look at positional value for a defensive
04:39 tackle for the amount of money it's going to cost, that's not good business for us.
04:44 So Christian, we love you, but good luck.
04:47 You know, the thing is, is I talked to three NFL executives today who all said, well, that's
04:54 not true.
04:55 Two of them said they thought him and Aaron Donald 1A, 1B.
04:58 And then one said Aaron Donald, Chris Jones and him 1A, 1B, 1C, all that.
05:04 So that's not a hondo opinion.
05:06 That's coming at what executives said.
05:09 And to say that, and this is where we just, Alan and I disagree, defensive tackles don't
05:15 go take over a game like a Max Crosby, but they do, they are space eaters that allow
05:21 your linebackers to do more in the running game.
05:24 And I think there are just some things that Wilkins does there.
05:27 Let's talk about him, the individual.
05:30 He does not enjoy doing media, but that's okay.
05:33 That doesn't make him a bad person at all.
05:36 I'm in the media and there are sometimes I look at the questions that these people get
05:40 asked and I'm like, I would literally, I would not be good on the other side of the camera
05:47 because I'd look at some people and go, are you that stupid?
05:50 I'm just, I'm not, I don't blame him.
05:54 I've dealt with a lot of people like that and have tremendous relationships, but he
05:58 is a glue guy.
05:59 And the Raiders coaches, some of them have history with him and they love him.
06:04 Talk about the locker room presence of Christian Wilkins, would you?
06:07 Yeah, no, he's a leader.
06:09 And this is something I wrote on all dolphins.com that, and certainly when I say he's not Aaron
06:15 Donnelly, he's not Chris Jones, I certainly don't want to downplay him.
06:18 He's a very, very good player.
06:19 He was a foundational piece for the Dolphins when the Dolphins like really basically blew
06:23 everything up in 2019, dumped a whole bunch of veterans, stocked up on draft capital,
06:29 stocked up on cap space.
06:31 Christian Wilkins was their first round pick, the first guy, 13th overall.
06:36 And he came in and he was very solid from the start.
06:38 He just got better and better every year.
06:40 He got better, particularly as a run defender.
06:43 But you asked me more as a guy, he became more and more of a leader.
06:49 And in fact, I think it was Mike McDaniel when Christian Wilkins was having his hold
06:53 in last summer, talked about him as the tone setter in practice.
06:59 He's the guy who brings the energy at practice.
07:02 You see him, the only, the biggest issue he ever had with his teammates from all appearances
07:07 or when he was jumping on the back of them when they were scoring touchdowns.
07:12 There's one of those and actually the Dolphins had a wide receiver by the name of Preston
07:16 Williams who scored a touchdown against Arizona in 2020, wound up sustaining a Liz Frank injury
07:22 whilst going to touchdown.
07:25 But nobody knew exactly when it happened.
07:28 And then right after the touchdown, Wilkins jumped over the top of his back.
07:32 And there were some people who were suggesting that it was Wilkins who caused the injury.
07:37 And then you saw him, if you remember when he got drafted, he basically did a flying
07:41 chest bump with Commissioner Roger Goodell.
07:43 I mean, he's a high energy guy.
07:46 He's also an agitator who will annoy other teams.
07:51 He's not afraid to yap on the field.
07:53 He's also not shy about letting his hand roam loose every once in a while.
08:00 You can check the clips.
08:01 Don't take my words.
08:02 He has put his hand in the nether regions.
08:05 Josh Allen, for example, I'm going to guess is very happy to see him out of the AFC East
08:09 because it's happened a couple of times.
08:11 But he is, I'm pretty sure he was a team captain.
08:15 He was the NFL PA rep for the Dolphins.
08:18 Very high energy guy.
08:20 So in terms of intangibles, along with what he brings you on the field, you can't ask
08:24 for much more.
08:25 I want to ask you quickly, a couple of years ago, they get Mac Hollins, who was a captain.
08:32 He did great with the Raiders.
08:33 Matter of fact, year one was a captain here.
08:36 Then they get Jonathan Hankins, a terrific human being, great player, had a great season
08:43 last year.
08:44 He's gone.
08:45 They get another captain from you, Christian Wilkins.
08:48 Why does it seem to be that the Dolphins are willing to let leaders go?
08:53 Is it just because they are identified as leaders by their teammates early?
08:57 Is it a money issue?
08:58 What is it?
08:59 You mean, okay, when you said Jonathan Hankins, you mean John Jenkins, correct?
09:04 John Jenkins, I apologize.
09:05 Yes.
09:06 It's all good.
09:07 John Jenkins is an issue of his.
09:09 He was an older guy who basically he gets one year contracts.
09:12 He got, I think, got three different one-year contracts with the Dolphins, not because they
09:16 didn't like him, but he was a backup guy.
09:20 Very good in locker room.
09:21 He's a great dude.
09:22 Love John Jenkins, but he wasn't necessarily a foundational piece where they couldn't use
09:27 their resources better somewhere else.
09:28 With Mac Hollins, I was surprised when they didn't retain him, but that happened when
09:36 Mike McDaniel came on board as the new head coach and maybe he had a specific wide receiver
09:43 type in mind and Mac Hollins didn't fit that, which to me would be the reason.
09:49 In Wilkins, it's strictly financial considerations.
09:52 It's not a Dolphin thing about not liking vocal guys.
09:56 It's strictly, again, they're all different circumstances.
10:00 I want to talk to you now about Max Crosby and Christian Wilkins together.
10:06 They are two guys very, very similar.
10:08 High motors, play every down, practice like it's a game.
10:13 They both get in the heads of the opponents.
10:16 To me, the Raiders got exponentially better with this signing, especially when you pair
10:21 them with a Max Crosby.
10:23 When you throw a Malcolm Kuntz, where Kuntz and Crosby for the last nine games of the
10:29 season were the best DN combo in the NFL.
10:33 Tyree Wilson's coming along like a dog.
10:35 The Raiders, to me, with this signing, got exponentially better.
10:40 What are your thoughts?
10:41 No, that's fair.
10:43 Again, it's an awful lot of money, but the Raiders obviously had the financial flexibility
10:48 to get it done.
10:50 You pair them up with Max Crosby, you have a really nice one-two punch outside-inside
10:55 in terms of the pass rush.
10:56 Last year, Wilkins was terrific as a pass rusher, which again was missing from his game
11:01 the previous seasons, and it wasn't strictly sack numbers because that's just too easy
11:05 to look at, but he wasn't necessarily somebody you really felt in the pass rush.
11:11 Last year, along with getting nine sacks, you just felt him.
11:15 He was a presence more often than not in the pass rush.
11:20 Then the Dolphins also had other very good pass rushers along the defensive line or the
11:25 edge, however you want to phrase it, with Zach Seeler inside and then Bradley Chubb
11:29 and Jalen Phillips outside.
11:31 So they had a lot of components, but without question, Wilkins can make an impact in that
11:37 game and certainly won't hurt Max Crosby's production, not that he needs a ton of help
11:41 to begin with.
11:42 All right, my friend.
11:43 Listen, I can't let you out of here without talking about Tua.
11:47 What kind of deal do you think he's going to get this off?
11:51 When you look at the money for Kirk Cousins and you look at the money going around here,
11:57 what do you think Tua's worth?
11:59 Let me rephrase that.
12:00 I'm not going to ask you what Tua's worth.
12:05 I'm going to ask you what's Tua going to get.
12:10 And I love, because for your Raiders fans, this is well, very known in Miami and anybody
12:14 who watches the All Dolphins podcast.
12:16 I am vehemently against the idea of giving Tua a long-term contract extension in the
12:21 spring and the off season or this year.
12:23 I think he should play on the fifth year option.
12:25 Totally different, but it's not going to happen.
12:26 I'm very well aware that they're going to sign him to a long-term extension.
12:29 They're completely infatuated with him as their quarterback moving forward.
12:36 I'm thinking he's going to reach 50-50 millisecond.
12:42 And again, I don't know.
12:44 This is my prediction.
12:45 I heard, let me just say what I, can I tell you what I heard?
12:49 You tell me if you think it's accurate.
12:51 I heard $200 million for four years, $150 million guaranteed.
12:59 That's about the ballpark I would expect.
13:03 And we'll see how that pans out.
13:05 And I'm going to guess probably three of those years are locked in.
13:08 So that will have meant seven seasons with Tua.
13:11 And let's reconvene after year seven and see where we are.
13:16 Listen, I appreciate you.
13:19 Please tell the family hello for me.
13:20 Can't wait to get back.
13:21 We got to get back in the boat together.
13:23 Works for me.
13:24 Good times on the boat and at the yacht club, right?
13:27 Good food, good fun, good friends.
13:30 Absolutely.
13:31 All right.
13:32 He's the great Alan Pupar.
13:33 Now, I always say this every time the Raiders play them, follow him on Twitter.
13:37 Alan, tell them what your Twitter handle is, would you, bud?
13:39 No, it's too bad I don't have my name on there as if we were doing on a different video streaming
13:44 platform, I would, they would all medically show up and I didn't make it show up.
13:47 So it's my last name, which is spelled P as in Peter, O-U, P as in Peter, A-R as in Robert,
13:56 P as in Tom, NFL.
13:59 And #alldolphins, you will find all our stuff, written content at alldolphins.com.
14:05 And I co-host the All Dolphins podcast with Omar Kelly, my fellow writer at alldolphins.com.
14:13 Appreciate you, bud.
14:14 You are one of the best.
14:15 You're one of the good guys.
14:16 Thank you, my friend.
14:18 You got it, my man.
14:19 Enjoy the rest of your night.
14:21 There's a great recap of Christian Wilkins from a guy that covered him every day.
14:25 Remember to follow me on X, formerly known as Twitter, when you go to @HondoCarpenter,
14:29 IG HondoSR, SI.com/NFL/Raiders for all the latest.
14:35 We'll see you there.