Miami Dolphins not getting the value out of their CB contracts

The Miami Dolphins have two of the highest paid cornerbacks in the NFL and they should have spent that money elsewhere.

To be fair, the Miami Dolphins have yet to see Byron Jones in action. He had one play in week one before hurting his groin. To be fair.

Maybe the Dolphins are cursed or something. They gave Reshad Jones a big contract and he never really came close to living up to it. Following the deal he spent a lot of time injured. Miami also gave Xavien Howard a huge contract and since then, he has spent most of his time injured. In free agency back in March, Byron Jones was given the biggest contract ever for a CB at that time. He is injured.

On the plus side, Jones is close to coming back to the field and almost played last Sunday. It was smart to keep him on the bench another week. Howard saved the Dolphins on Sunday with an endzone interception that kept the Dolphins in the game but there is clearly rust on Miami’s top corner.

Howard doesn’t look like the same player he was before the injury. He looks far from it. We don’t know what Jones will bring to the team but he has to do better than rookie Noah Igbinoghene who is not looking good this year on the outside. He was drafted to play multiple roles on defense but he hasn’t been able show that versatility yet.

To me, this is similar to a couple of the early Jeff Ireland years where he continued to toss money at the linebacker position in hopes of fixing it. Dannell Ellerbe, Joey Porter, Karlos Dansby, and Kevin Burnette all come to mind and none of them lasted more than a couple of years.

The Dolphins are throwing a lot of money and draft picks at the position. This year they invested two more draft picks for the secondary. This is where they should be focusing more attention. Draft picks are valuable but they are cheap against the cap. That is not to say that Miami isn’t going to find themselves with a great secondary. They very well may.

Jones could turn out to be exactly what the Dolphins hope he will be but he has to get on the field. Eric Rowe is making plays and Brandon Jones is starting to get more reps. Howard needs to get back to playing like an “X-Factor” again and Igbinoghene will grow the more he plays. Still, the Dolphins need to stop spending money here for now and let these guys settle in and in some cases develop. When they do that, they can evaluate the positions back there and then make decisions moving forward.

Right now, the Dolphins need to let all this ride but they really should consider what they are spending on the position in the future. There is a lot of money invested in a unit that needs to perform better, but they should get there.