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!!!