ESPN Names Patriots ‘Best Fit’ For Local Kid-Turned Division Rival

The Patriots badly need to upgrade their offense this offseason, but it would be kind of fitting if their biggest splash came on the other side of the ball.

Just about everyone expects the Pats to be active in free agency — they have to get to the cap floor — and that could mean a big signing or two, in addition to the No. 3 draft pick. ESPN.com on Tuesday published a story looking at the best fits for the top 50 players available this offseason, and Matt Bowen believes the No. 5 player available could be a great fit for New England.

That No. 5 player: defensive tackle Christian Wilkins.

“I expect the Patriots to be active in free agency, and Wilkins has the position versatility to align all over the defensive front,” Bowen wrote on ESPN.com. “In 2023, Wilkins had nine sacks, 35 pressures and 68 tackles in Miami. He would pair nicely with Christian Barmore to give first-year head coach Jerod Mayo two difference-makers on the defensive interior.”

Hard to argue with any of that, and there’s a void on that line with the departure of Lawrence Guy. Signing Wilkins would provide another smaller benefit, in that it would weaken a divisional rival by getting him out of Miami. Also, for what it’s worth, Wilkins is a New England kid. He was born in Springfield, Mass., and he played his high school football at Suffield Academy in Connecticut before playing at Clemson.

The Dolphins then made Wilkins the No. 13 pick of the first round in the 2019 draft.

Coincidentally, former Patriots coach Bill Belichick is a big fan of Wilkins.

“Big, athletic, hard guy to move,” Belichick said at a press conference in 2019. “Power rusher who’s got some good quickness. Runs well. He’s a good player. Play anywhere across the line, really. Play anywhere from nose to 5-Technique. He’s usually more of a 3-Technique, but I mean he has the ability to play any of those spots.”

Wilkins should be looking for a contract in the neighborhood of recent top-end defensive tackles. Quinnen Williams and Dexter Lawrence in the last couple of years each signed four-year contracts in the neighborhood of $85 million and $95 million.