Xavien Howard, Dolphins agree to restructured contract

Miami Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard publicly requested a trade last month, but the Pro Bowler is not going anywhere.

Howard and the Dolphins have agreed to a restructured contract, according to Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport of NFL Media. The team has rescinded all of the money that Howard was fined for missing minicamp in addition to adding incentives to his deal.

What did Xavien Howard get? $1M Pro Bowl incentive. $3.5M in additional incentives. Rescinding all minicamp fines. The max for 2021 is $16,285,294 https://t.co/ZOjYPeHfJj

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 8, 2021

As Garafolo noted, Howard still had four years remaining on his contract. He signed that five-year extension in May 2019, and he said recently that he “didn’t completely understand” the deal at the time. He also said he did not feel the Dolphins were working with him in good faith.

The Dolphins have also assured Howard that they will renegotiate his contract after the 2021 season to pay him more in line with his performance.

Howard was initially set to make $12.1 million this season. His teammate, Byron Jones, signed a five-year, $82.5 million free agent contract with Miami last year. Howard was frustrated that he led the NFL in interceptions with 10 last season and wasn’t even the highest-paid defensive back on his team.

Dolphins head coach Brian Flores made it clear this week that he did not want to part ways with Howard. The new contract should resolve any issues between the two sides, at least for now.