Xavien Howard reports to Miami Dolphins training camp

The drama that has been brewing all off-season has partially come to an end as Xavien Howard has reported to the Miami Dolphins training camp.

Today marks the official start of the 2021 NFL season as the Miami Dolphins open training camp at their new facility in Miami Gardens near Hard Rock Stadium. While I don’t know for sure, this may be the first time that Howard has seen the new facility. He skipped all of the off-season work.

Howard has been adamant all off-season that he wants a better contract and has hinted through social media that he would take a trade. There were questions about whether or not he would show up for camp after he skipped the mandatory sessions this off-season.

Howard was one of the first players to arrive today as seen in a video posted by the Dolphins media team.

There were no big smiles on his face as he fist-bumped a teammate and he didn’t look overly thrilled but that isn’t surprising given the current state of affairs. The current CBA has been designed to make it hard for players to hold out. Players on their 2nd contracts are immediately fined $50,000 each day that they miss and that money can not be waived by the team.

Howard’s arrival does not mean this is an end to the speculation of him being traded. That isn’t going to go away any time soon whether he is in camp or not in camp.

The Dolphins could work out a new contract or renegotiate his current one by guaranteeing portions of the deal. Howard’s current contract has already paid out the guarantees but the heart of the issue is that Howard feels he was disrespected when Miami made Byron Jones the highest-paid corner in the league, a year after doing the same with Howard.