The Dolphins have restructured the contract of star cornerback Xavien Howard (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). By converting a portion of his base salary into a signing bonus, the Dolphins now carved out an additional $3.8M in cap room for 2021.
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This marks Howard‘s second contract revision of the year. In August, the Dolphins ended Howard’s holdout by guaranteeing his entire 2021 salary while adding $3.5M in incentives to his deal. Of course, that hasn’t done much to quell the speculation over his long-term future in Miami.
On the flipside, the Dolphins did rebuff a pre-deadline trade offer from the Ravens, back when they were winless. It’s possible that Baltimore GM Eric DeCosta would have even coughed up a first-rounder to land the two-time Pro Bowler if the Dolphins were willing to eat a portion of his $13.8M salary. Chris Grier‘s refusal — in the midst of a down year for Howard — indicates that he could still be in their plans for 2022 and beyond.
Since then, the Dolphins have rattled off three straight wins, bringing them to 3-7 on the year. Howard & Co. will look to extend the streak on Sunday when they host the Cam Newton-led Panthers.
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