Xavien Howard’s veiled social media post is his latest of several

Xavien Howard’s veiled social media post is his latest of several

Miami Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard is not pleased with his contract with the team — this is not breaking news. It wasn’t breaking news when Howard opted to skip mini-camp, either. That just served as the formal declaration of displeasure that had been reported on and speculated on for months.

But for as long as we’ve known Xavien Howard hasn’t been happy with his current deal, it’s been much, much longer that the star cornerback has been communicating his feelings through social media. The most recent barb offers little room for imagination: Howard took to Instagram earlier this week to post a story with the quote:

“They won’t realize how big a part you play…..until you not there to play it no mo”

Eagle-eyed Dolphins fans caught on quickly.

Could this be much ado about nothing? Perhaps if it were some other player, but seemingly not with Howard. Howard has been transparent with his feelings and emotions with this Dolphins regime, going all the way back to Howard’s placement on Injured Reserve back in October of 2019. Then, Howard posted an image of a pumpkin with a hand flipping the middle finger to his story on October 31st, the day after the Dolphins posted him on IR. Innocent enough and festive for the Halloween season? As an isolated incident, sure.

But then came 2020 free agency.

When the Dolphins officially signed Byron Jones to a free agent contract in March of 2020 and paid him more than Howard was signed to the previous summer, Howard scrubbed evidence of the Dolphins from his Instagram profile all together.

We know for a fact that this maneuver aligned with a time in which Howard felt insulted by the decision, along with the one Miami made to draft a cornerback in the 1st round. He’s said so himself during his appearance with Darius Butler and Antoine Bethea earlier this offseason. And now, with the contract dispute looming, Howard is posturing through social media once again regarding his displeasure with the team and attempting to send a message: that grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

We’ll see if Howard’s latest message, which is perhaps his most direct, is enough to prompt change from Miami’s stance. But given that this is the latest in several Howard has made through social media over the last 18 months or so, it may be a message that falls upon deaf ears with Dolphins management.