Miami Dolphins fans need to prep for an Xavien Howard trade

It won’t be a popular move by the Miami Dolphins but it just might be one that has to be made. Trading Xavien Howard could be the next domino to fall in Miami’s young off-season.

On Tuesday, the Dolphins parted ways with Kyle Van Noy and there are a lot of rumors going around as to why. Miami cleared almost $10 million in cap space but they could have kept the locker room leader.

Rumors have suggested that Miami wanted him to restructure and he would not. Another rumor circulated yesterday that the Dolphins were working on a trade and that Van Noy himself leaked the information that he was being released in order to derail that trade. Regardless, the Dolphins have moved on.

Dolphins fans are now waiting for the next ax to swing and the next veteran departure. The most likely candidate is Jakeem Grant but I wouldn’t rule out Xavien Howard. Personally, I don’t think we see Howard moved until after the Dolphins have talks with Houston about Deshaun Watson. If Miami does indeed look into making that deal, Howard would almost 100% be a part of it.

Still, the Dolphins shed Van Noy’s contract and that means Howard is the 2nd highest-paid player on the roster. There have been reports that Howard wants his contract redone, if that is true then the Dolphins would almost certainly start entertaining offers for him. Howard is due to count $13.5 million in cap space but trading or releasing him only saves $6.8 million and Miami would eat the other $6.7. It’s not an ideal situation for Miami in terms of gaining more cap space.

Miami could still move on from Howard even if Watson isn’t involved. The question is will Miami get the value in him that they believe they should and what is that value?

Either way, whether the Dolphins keep Howard or trade him, we should expect to hear his name mentioned quite a bit in the coming weeks.