The Miami Dolphins have officially parted ways with 2020 free agent signee Jordan Howard this morning, Brian Flores revealed to the South Florida media this afternoon. Howard was one of several prominent early signings for the Dolphins in 2020 free agency, agreeing to a 2-year contract worth nearly $10M as Miami looked to boost their rushing attack from the woes it illustrated in 2019. But while so much of what the Miami Dolphins have done this season has come up smelling like a rose, the Jordan Howard signing will not be remembered as one of them. Howard has struggled to find consistent production and room to run this season and despite his nose for the end zone in short yardage, Miami kept him as a healthy scratch for the better part of the last month.
Howard got his most prominent action in Week 9 against the Cardinals with the absence of both Matt Breida and Myles Gaskin, carrying the ball 10 times for 19 yards and a score on the day. The following week with both backs still out, Howard was again a healthy scratch.
And now Miami has parted ways with Howard, presumably in large part due to the competency shown by RB Salvon Ahmed over the course of the last two games — Ahmed made his NFL debut in Week 9 against Arizona and in the last two weeks has carried the ball as many times (28) as Howard has this season and produced 123 rushing yards (4.4 yards per carry). When you compare that to Howard’s 33 yards (1.2 yards per carry), it becomes quite clear that Miami’s more dynamic options are worth the most play in this offense.
And so Howard will shift his focus to finding another home this season and the Dolphins will save nearly $5M against the 2021 salary cap; his contract featured no guarantees beyond this year.