What could happen if the Miami Dolphins give Xavien Howard more

The Miami Dolphins are indeed in a “unique” situation with Xavien Howard as Brian Flores put it but this is not the time to give in to his demands.

I like Xavien Howard and love cheering for him on Sundays. His contract in 2019 was not a good one, it was a great one for Howard. He was at the time the highest-paid corner in the NFL. Yes, it sucks that Miami made Byron Jones that player a year later but as we all know, each season, the prices go up. Sorry X.

Now the Dolphins are in a position to hold Howard to his deal, force his hand if you will, not give in to his demands. If Howard doesn’t like it, ask for a trade and threaten to sit out the season. Hell, opt out of the season since the NFL will allow players to do that. If I am Chris Grier, I’m not trading Howard. I’m not giving in to his demands. Why? Because I don’t trust Xavien Howard.

As a player, Howard is borderline “elite”. Add a year or two more in his career and he will be. He isn’t far away from being the statistical leader in Dolphins team history, something we will discuss on Monday. But there is a “big” deal to all this madness and as fans, we have to think about this. Xavien Howard can not be trusted.

In 2018, there was a lot of speculation that the Dolphins could move Howard because Howard wasn’t happy with the Dolphins. He wanted more money, he wanted to be paid as the top guy in the league. The Dolphins didn’t give in to him during that off-season. Many if you will recall thought he would hold out, but he didn’t.

In 2019, he got his money, he got his guarantees, and he got to be the highest-paid corner in the NFL. Now, he had a great season last year, and MVP type season and he wants more money. He isn’t the top paid guy now and he wants to be. If this were about getting more guaranteed money, I’m pretty confident the Dolphins would have already restructured his contract and done it. Teams do that, all the time.

No, he wants to be the top guy again, and here is where I have the trust issue.

What happens if Miami acquiesces and gives him what he wants? Not the precedent that is being set for other players, the precedent being set for Howard himself.

What happens if in 2021 he has 9 interceptions and in 2022 he has another 8 or 9 or even 10? What happens with another NFL team makes another cornerback the highest-paid player at the position? Is he going to wine and cry again because his “contract” doesn’t correlate to his production vs. a contract of another player? Yes, he absolutely will because he can and he can because the Dolphins told him 2021 that he can.

I’m all for players maximizing their opportunities to get more money and secure their lives for the future. I could never dream of making the veteran minimum in a single year to say nothing about earning upwards of $40 or $50 million in five years. But I do get it and I understand it. This, however, is different.

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Howard wants the money and he is going to chase the money. If he doesn’t want to be in Miami then he shouldn’t have signed his deal but he did. The Dolphins are not going to hold him accountable until 2024 when that contract expires, they are going to either trade him at his request or give him a new deal. It just shouldn’t be this year.

Howard has no cards on this table. None. The only thing he can do is hold out and take the fines, opt out of the season, not play this season, or retire. Those are his only options and not a single one of them gets him a new contract, a better deal, or more guaranteed money and not one of those options makes him the highest-paid player at his position in the NFL.

I don’t want to see Howard play for another franchise. But I also get the feeling that he doesn’t really care if he is playing in Miami or in Detroit so long as he has a title ahead of his name with a dollar sign and a bunch of zeroes.

The Dolphins can not risk putting themselves in this position again two years from now with Howard. By then, he may very well hold cards that he can use against the team. Right now, he has nothing.