The biggest splash of the Las Vegas Raiders' offseason thus far has been the signing of former Miami Dolphins defensive tackle Christian Wilkins, who netted a massive four-year, $110 million deal in free agency.
As a result of that deal, ESPN's Paul Gutierrez rightly believes defensive tackle is the Raiders' most improved position going into the 2024 season.
Here's what he had to say about that:
Signing an elite free agent in Christian Wilkins, who brings 20.5 career sacks with him to Las Vegas, does more than improve the position from a pass-rush perspective -- it makes the Raiders' defense potentially a top-10 unit. Wilkins, who had a career-high 9.0 sacks for the Dolphins last season, had more sacks in 2023 than fellow Raiders DTs John Jenkins (3.5), Matthew Butler (0.5), Byron Young (0) and Nesta Jade Silvera (0) have combined in their careers. But DT Adam Butler had 5.0 of his 22.0 career sacks for Las Vegas last season. Adding Wilkins should also stop offensive lines from double-teaming Pro Bowl edge rusher Maxx Crosby so much.
In the same article, Las Vegas was ranked at No. 25 in ESPN's power rankings, one spot lower than where they were in the previous iteration. Clearly the outlet doesn't think too highly of the Silver & Black.
Improving the defensive line was among the Raiders' biggest needs going into the offseason, which made the addition of Wilkins huge. Not only does he improve the Raiders' pass-rush, he's also an excellent run defender.
The Raiders sported the No. 21 run defense in the NFL last season and finished with a total of 46 sacks, tied for 13th. Both of those figure to improve with Wilkins, who could help Las Vegas sport one of the elite fronts in 2024.
