The Dolphins’ decision to move on from Xavien Howard was easy, as it opened up $18.5 million on Miami’s salary cap (or at least it will on June 1st). They filled his spot with Kendall Fuller, who signed for two years and $16.5 million.
However, good financial decisions do not always mean good football decisions on the field.
And I know, many of you are screaming right now. Xavien Howard is old, always injured, and isn’t good anymore. While those are social media narratives fans like to throw out there, they aren’t entirely true. Some of it is true, but vocal fans on social media often like to pile on and exaggerate the facts.
So, let’s compare some key statistics between Kendall Fuller and Xavien Howard to see if Miami has upgraded one of their starting cornerback positions.
Age
- Howard 30 will turn 31 on July 4th
- Fuller just turned 29 in February
Games Played/Experience
- Howard has played in 100 total games and started 99
- Fuller has played in 117 games and started 93
Career Interceptions
- Howard 29
- Fuller 16
Touchdowns Given Up in 2022 and 2023
- Howard in 2022, gave up 4 touchdowns, and in 2023 he gave up 1 touchdown
- Fuller in 2022 gave up 5 touchdowns, and in 2023 he gave up 9 touchdowns
2022 and 2023 Stats
- Howard in 2022 played in 15 games out of 17, and Howard in 2023 played in 13 games out of 17
- Fuller in 2022 played in 17 of 17 games and in 2023, he played in 15 of 17 games
Post Season Honors
- Howard is a one-time All-Pro and a four-time Pro Bowl selection
- Fuller has never been All-Pro or gone to the Pro Bowl
What do these numbers tell us on the field, and how can we look into them for the Miami Dolphins in 2024? For one, I would expect Fuller to be on the field slightly more as he has been more durable the past couple of seasons. So, that is a plus for Fuller.
But Miami will miss some things by not having Xavien Howard. For one, Howard was voted to the Pro Bowl four of the last five years and only gave up one touchdown reception in 2023 in 13 games. On the other hand, Fuller gave up nine touchdowns in 2023 in 15 games.
Nine is a lot, and that number kind of jumps off the page. I don’t care how good or how bad the team you are playing on is; giving up that many touchdowns as a cornerback is on the player.
The other thing I find interesting is that while Howard is almost two full years older, he may actually have less wear and tear on his body as Fuller has played in 17 more games than Howard (a full NFL season), and one will wonder if Fuller will hit that wall maybe this year where his body starts to breakdown more.
We kind of saw that with Howard in recent years, but starting 15 and 13 games in the NFL is still somewhat dependable, and we can hope Fuller doesn’t begin to see his body break down as he nears the age of 30.
CONCLUSION
The Dolphins had to make this trade-off from a financial standpoint as while Xavien Howard is still an above-average cornerback in 2024, he was grossly overpaid, and the $18.5 million in available on June 1st is much needed for a cash-strapped Dolphins franchise. While Kendall Fuller is a good cornerback, he doesn’t have the resume of Xavien Howard and he has never created as many turnovers as Xavien has ever had.
In 2024, I see both players as essentially equal on the field. So, I won’t go as far to say Miami upgraded the cornerback position, but more so, they won’t have a drop off at the position and stayed status-quo, which when all is said and done is a good thing.
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