The Miami Dolphins have a potential pair of lockdown corners. The last time we could honestly say that would bring us back to the days of Sam Madison and Patrick Surtain in the secondary — so these are exciting times for Dolphins fans eager to recapture some of that former defensive glory. All we’re missing are a few Zack Thomases and Jason Taylors and we’re all set! But with Miami’s lockdown duo comes a lot of cost — mainly in cap space and guaranteed cash.
Because when the Dolphins inked CB Byron Jones to a contract in March, the team did so by making him the highest paid cornerback in football. That deal has since been surpassed by CB Darius Slay of the Philadelphia Eagles. But nevertheless, Jones now sits as the NFL’s #2 highest paid cornerback. Behind him? Dolphins CB Xavien Howard, who signed his new contract last summer with the Dolphins in a deal that made him the NFL’s highest paid corner.
With all that money wrapped up in cornerbacks, some Dolphins fans have understandable asked whether or not Howard is aligning to undergo the same fate of several of his former teammates and see himself traded this offseason to a different team.
The case to do so is centered around two things: the money the Dolphins are paying him and the persistent knee issues he’s been combating ever since he came into the league. Howard missed the vast majority of 2019 on account of knee issues, which is the third season we’ve seen such issues arise. But this Dolphins regime signed Howard’s deal. This Dolphins regime is the one that prioritized adding Jones to a roster that already had Xavien Howard on it — this pairing together was clearly part of the vision.
This team should see this through and stay committed to the duo. There are no long-term cap ramifications of keeping Howard on the roster, either. Yes, he’s costly. But Miami structured his contract to align most of his guaranteed salary cap to come off the board within the first two seasons of the deal. If Howard were to play in Miami in 2020 and flop, the Dolphins could trade or cut Howard next offseason for $6.7M in dead cap space in 2021. Lets (of course) hope there’s no flop.
Howard pairing with Jones gives the Dolphins a duo of physical press man cornerbacks — a tag team that will be worth the price if they’re both able to stay healthy. Remember, these aren’t the 2019 Miami Dolphins, who shuttled away anyone of value. These are the 2020 Miami Dolphins, who apparently want to be aggressive in everything they do. And that includes playing press coverage on the outside.
Howard has a role to play for these Dolphins.