NFL Rumors: 4 Christian Wilkins landing spots if Dolphins let him walk

1. Cincinnati Bengals

Often criticized for not being an organization willing to spend money, that has become more perception than reality for the Cincinnati Bengals in recent years. Given how far the team’s defensive unit fell a season ago, adding a performer such as Christian Wilkins would be quite the pickup as Zac Taylor’s team looks to rebound from a last-place finish in the highly competitive AFC North.

Of course, last place in a division that featured an unprecedented four teams with winning records (3 of which reached the playoffs) is obviously not the norm. Hence the Bengals own the 18th overall pick in April’s draft. The franchise also has the sixth-most salary cap room (via Spotrac) as of this writing.

More importantly, the Bengals have shown in recent years that they are more than willing to pull out the checkbook to sign top-notch unrestricted free agents. In particular, they have had no problem giving big money to standout defensive linemen. In 2020, the team inked run-stopper D.J. Reader (Texans) to a four-year, $53 million contract. A year later, Cincinnati gave defensive end Trey Hendrickson (Saints) a four-year, $60 million deal.

Reader (coming off a quad injury) can test free agency in March, and the team has already decided to give wide receiver Tee Higgins the “franchise” tag. If Christian Wilkins is available, don’t be shocked that the club with the 31st-ranked defense (26th vs. the run) makes a strong play for him.