After months of disarray, All-Pro CB Xavien Howard announced a trade request away from the Miami Dolphins. But despite Howard’s overt discontent with the team, HC Brian Flores believes the team can still work things out.
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Xavien Howard signed a massive $75.25M contract extension in the summer of 2019. But 2 years in, Howard seems adamant about signing a new contract after a career year in 2020.
In a public statement released on Tuesday night, Howard made it abundantly clear that he’s “unhappy” with his current contract.
Xavien Howard: pic.twitter.com/CdeL70tUqh
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 28, 2021
Despite leading the league in interceptions (10) and passes defended (20) through the 2020 season, Howard is the sixth highest paid corner in the NFL — earning $15.1 million in average salary on his five-year, $75.25 million extension. Howard isn’t even the highest-paid secondary player on the roster. Byron Jones is slated to earn $40 million through the first two seasons of his five-year, $82.5 million deal.
Brian Flores is optimistic about Xavien Howard staying
“We understand his concerns,” Flores said during an appearance on radio station 560 The JOE. “X is a great player, he’s good teammate; his teammates love playing with him. I love coaching him. Obviously we’ve had discussions with him and his representation (David Canter). I talked to him yesterday. I’ll keep all those conversations between us, including his contract situation.
“I guess the plan is to continue to have discussions on our part, continue to have talks with him and his representation. We love X. He’s a good player and competitive. He’s here and shown up. We expect him to contribute the same way he has. He was out there yesterday, passed conditioning test. He’s in good shape. We’ understand his concerns, and we’ll just try to work through this as best we can.”
Lowest passer rating allowed in 2020 among CBs (playoffs included):
🔒 Jaire Alexander – 52.9
🔒 Xavien Howard – 53.0 pic.twitter.com/hhJpVIiE87— PFF (@PFF) January 28, 2021
Flores says he’s hoping something “can be worked out” with Howard.
“Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” Flores said. “I think we just continue to have discussions with him, his representation and keep the lines of communication open, continue having dialogue and hopefully you know, work something out. At the same time, we’ve got 90, 89 other guys that we’ll be working with to include X and try to build this team and improve on a day-to-day basis and build team chemistry, and that’s where most of our focus is.
“But, yeah, the X thing is something we’re having discussions about as well.”
