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The Miami Dolphins restructured Xavien Howard’s contract after the All-Pro cornerback requested a trade last month.
Coach Brian Flores said the organization was “excited” to have made the deal but did not disclose details of the contract.
“In any negotiation, compromise is important,” said Flores.
Howard’s base salary of $ 12.785 million in 2021 has been fully guaranteed and a maximum of $ 3.5 million in incentives added, sources confirmed to ESPN.
A central problem he had with his contract before his restructuring was that he had to pay $ 12 million in unsecured money in 2021, which had ranked 12th among NFL cornerbacks despite having 10 interceptions from Howard leads the league in 2020.
The Dolphins also agreed to waive $ 93,000 in fines Howard had to pay for skipping the team’s mandatory minicamp, the sources said.
The Dolphins have also changed Howard’s touch for the 2022 season, fully guaranteeing $ 6.775 million of his salary, the sources said. The remainder of his salary of $ 12.975 million is guaranteed against injury and will be fully guaranteed on the first day of the league year. The Dolphins also converted $ 500,000 in per-game roster bonus and a $ 100,000 practice bonus into his base salary.
Howard, 28, was also given assurances that the Dolphins would renegotiate a new deal in the offseason depending on the market based on his health and performance in the 2021 season, the sources said.
Howard became the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL when he signed his five-year, $ 75.1 million extension in 2019, but has since fallen to sixth place. He pointed out in an Instagram post that he was no longer the highest-paid cornerback on his own team, having been passed by Byron Jones, who signed a five-year, $ 82.5 million contract as as an unrestricted free agent before the 2020 offseason.
Howard led the NFL with 10 steals and 20 assists defended last season en route to being named to the All-Pro First Team. He has 22 interceptions and 55 assists defended since joining the league from Baylor in 2016. Only Marcus Peters (23) of the Baltimore Ravens has more picks during that span.
Details of Howard’s restructured contract were first reported by the NFL Network.
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