Dolphins CB Xavien Howard updates trade-request status: 'I hope it gets better'

Xavien Howard made waves when he publicly requested a trade from the Miami Dolphins earlier this week, but the All-Pro cornerback expressed a vague willingness to stay with the team while addressing the situation Saturday (July 31).

"That's up to the Dolphins," Howard told reporters (h/t CBS Sports' Jeff Kerr). "I'm just here with my teammates and enjoying every moment with my teammates. ... I hope it gets better. It's a process. I'm hearing this and hearing that, but nothing is getting done right now. Right now, I'm just here — out here every day, supporting the team and out here working."

"Howard said he and Dolphins coach Brian Flores did talk earlier in the week, but it 'didn't go nowhere,'" Kerr added. "He hasn't committed to playing in any preseason games, and shot down any rift between him and [Dolphins cornerback Byron] Jones — who makes $1.45 million more in average annual salary than Howard."

Miami made Jones the NFL's highest-paid cornerback — Spotrac relays the deal as five years, $82.5 million with $54.375 million guaranteed — by signing the former Dallas Cowboy during free agency in March 2020. 

These comments, even his preference to stay in Miami, are cohesive with Howard's original statement posted to Instagram on Tuesday (July 27):