By Jordan Long
The Miami Dolphins are holding a mandatory minicamp which will end tomorrow. Starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa apparently threw 5 interceptions yesterday. That is the least of their problems. Cornerback Xavien Howard is holding out hoping to either receive a new contract or ask for a trade.
Howard is entering his 5th year in the NFL. The Dolphins selected him in the 2nd round of the 2016 NFL Draft. Howard didn’t do much in his first year in the NFL. He appeared in 7 games totaling 40 tackles, 6 passes defended, and 1 forced fumble. He didn’t have an interception.
In 2017, Howard’s play improved with 48 tackles. He proved he could be one of the top cornerbacks for the Dolphins, totaling 4 interceptions and 13 passes defended. He was even better in 2018 with 7 picks and 12 passes defended. His tackles were down with 35.
In the 2019 offseason, the Dolphins agreed to a massive contract with him. The agreement was for 5 years, paying him a total of $76.5 million, becoming the highest paid cornerback at the time. 2019 was statistically his worst year, appearing in a career low 5 games. Howard missed most of the season dealing with a knee injury that required surgery. He ended with 17 tackles, 4 passes defended, and 1 interception.
Last year Howard proved 2019 was a fluke. He appeared in all 16 games for the Dolphins for the first time since 2017. Howard led the league with 10 interceptions. He even totaled 51 tackles and 20 passes defended. Howard was showing the NFL quarterbacks not to throw his way. If they did, passes could be picked off which would end drives for the opponents and gave the Dolphins’ offense decent field position to start drives.
Even though Howard had a career year, he believes he deserves a bigger contract. Howard is now holding out until that happens. The problem is holding out is showing that Howard is bigger than the team. He is still one of the highest paid cornerbacks in the league. Howard is the 6th top paid NFL cornerback averaging $16.5 million a year. The top paid cornerback in the league is Jalen Ramsey at around $20 million. Howard showed last year he is better than Ramsey. Ramsey only had 1 interception. The problem is it was only one good season. He needs to show that he can do it for more than one season. It could be quarterbacks figure him out this year and don’t throw to his side of the ball. His numbers could go down and it wouldn’t be worth it. Consistency is the key and he hasn’t shown it yet.
Head Coach Brian Flores knows that Howard holding out is all about money. According to MSN.com, Flores said, “It’s pretty clear this is a contract situation. We’ve talked about it internally. That’s what I believe it is. We have had discussions and will continue to have those discussions … X is a unique situation. He was extended and now we’re talking about a renegotiation of an extension. We’ve had a lot of discussions about that. Very unique situation, talking about a potential renegotiation after one year. Those are longer conversations. We understand that.”
It could be Howard sits out for a while and the Dolphins start fining him. He could realize how much money he is losing and decide to come back and play. The other option for the Dolphins, if they don’t reach a new contract with him, is to trade him. He could ask for one soon. There would be plenty of teams interested because of the way Howard plays the game. The difficulty is the money. His cap hit this year is around $13.5 million, a lot of money for a franchise to take on.
The Dolphins are hopeful he will end his holdout. They would like him on the field to help this defense and win games. If not, Miami may have to think about moving on from Howard even though he is the top defensive player on the team.
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