The Miami Dolphins haven’t had the season they’ve wanted on a lot of fronts. One of the more disappointing developments of the year is the injury to cornerback Xavien Howard, who will finish the season with just 5 games played and one interception — numbers that pale in comparison to the two year production spurt Miami witnessed from their young defender.
It was that very same production spurt that prompted the Dolphins to ante up on Howard, giving him a 5-year, $75M contract extension over this past summer. And while Howard’s recent knee procedure certainly doesn’t make a certain ending or doom for his career, it at least does force Miami to look ahead at the longevity of Howard as a football player.
And when considering Howard’s recent extension and the questions about his long-term health, one thing is clear — the Dolphins knew what they were doing with this contract.
Howard’s deal provided the cornerback with the highest point of actual cash in 2019, when the Dolphins would be facing the prospect of minimal contract commitments. And Miami has structured Howard’s contract so that in just two more years, Howard’s dead cap figure for a potential cut is $2.8M.
Yes, you read that right. The Dolphins structured a 5-year, $75M contract as such that Miami could cut ties with Howard after the 2021 season (two more years) and have nothing red against their books except for $2.8M in dead cap space. This is the kind of contract structure that serves as a departure from how Mike Tannenbaum handled the cap and should be applauded. Of course, if Tannenbaum were still here, Miami probably wouldn’t have the cap space to try to extend Howard to begin with and would be facing the prospect of restructuring another contract to create the needed cap room to get a deal done — while deferring the guaranteed cash commitments to his new deal to three or four years from now so that Miami would actually be paying for Howard’s peak production several years after the fact.
Of course, the hope on all sides is that Howard’s knee bounces back and the corner is able to play out the entirety of his deal (and a third one) in Miami. But just in case the knee issues engulf Howard’s young and promising career, the Dolphins are prepared to handle that thanks to the gift of foresight and wise contract structuring.
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