Would New Xavien Howard Demands Be Too Much?
Will Howard demand a new contract… if so, how much is too much?
Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald has reported that Xavien Howard will demand the five-year, $75 mil contract that Howard signed in 2019 be renegotiated. At the time of the 2019 signing, Howard was the highest-paid CB in the league at the time. Now, he is the sixth-highest-paid corner, one spot behind fellow Phin Byron Jones, whose $46 mil in guaranteed money near doubles Howard’s $27.2 mil. Given the huge season Howard just had and the addition of a new agent, all the signs are pointing to a contract dispute of some sort.
Will Howard hold out if Miami balks?
Who knows?
The question now is would a new contract be in Miami’s best interest?
How much is too much for Xavien Howard?
The Dolphins are currently spending roughly a quarter of their salary cap on their secondary, which is slightly less than their entire offense. Can the Dolphins afford to bump up this investment with a big, new contract for Howard? But, on the flip side, considering Howard led the league in deflections and interceptions and was ranked by PFF as the #2 corner in the NFL, can Miami afford not to keep him?
On the face of it, Howard must be kept at all costs… but, there are plenty of other factors.
Why a shiny new contract might not be best for the Phins
- NFL teams will see stagnant or decreasing salary caps due to decreased revenue for the foreseeable future. Howard looks to command in the low 20 million per season!
- Howard has only played a full 16 game schedule twice in his 5-year career due to bad knees. Given the vast sums of guaranteed money and base salary, if he misses extended time, it will cripple the Phins.
- Beyond the bad knees, Howard also had serious off the field issues as well. Maybe he is passed these issues… or maybe not. Can Miami invest that much on so much inconsistency?
- Miami is already highly invested in Byron Jones with S44 mill guaranteed.
Phins owe a ton to Howard for their 10 wins
Without the amazing play of Xavien Howard Miami would have never reached 10 wins this year. Still, Miami put out feelers in the last offseason to see if anyone was interested in his services, so you can bet with the pay per head services they’ll do it again this year.
Problem is, what can Miami get in return with a trade? Last year, no one wanted to meet Chris Grier’s price for Howard. Did his awesome play this season do enough to get a team to meet the price tag Miami was looking for?
We don’t know if Howard will seek a new contract… Maybe he won’t. But, if he does, I just don’t see how Miami can pay that much. This will be a huge storyline in the 2021 offseason. Go Phins!!!
While his stock is high, I won’t be surprised if a trade happens before the draft.
The top 10 cornerback rankings for the 2021 NFL Draft
https://www.profootballnetwork.com/2021-cornerback-rankings-nfl-draft/
Hey, Steve sorry for the delay in responding… battling COVID and it won’t go away. Howard is looking for a bigger contract… hope we move on from him and get a CB in the draft. Love his ball skills, but very injury prone and it’s too much dough to roll the dice on him. We’ll miss him a ton though.
MJ,
I totally agree with the other readers on this. Try and negotiate something reasonable, or let him go via a trade for a #1 and a mid-round pick! Use one of our three 1st round picks and grab another CB. Bring in a good FA CB too so the young kid can develop. Can’t pay huge money to one player with bad knees and bad off-field conduct! This guy is risky and in the past, when the team has broken the bank for one player, it has gotten burned! Look at Khalil Mack with the Bear, had $140 million dollar contract with the Raiders. Bears absorb in the hopes he would be the piece to get them to the promised land. It has not happened and Mack has not been all the dominant. Bottom line, if the negotiations are insane, trade his butt!
Can’t pay it! His knees alone make this a real gamble! Draft or bring in another good CB let him walk. Let another team roll the dice.
Agree, Steve… too many issues attached. If he was always there… I’d consider it. But, I’m just not into that high of an investment for someone with bad knees.
No. If Howards wants to re-negotiate, he should be traded, and the resulting draft picks used to upgrade the team.
I agree, TPL… I love his ball-hawking skills, but at a certain point, he becomes too expensive. Had to approve you as a 1st-time poster… sorry for the delay.