Xavien Howard worth every penny

The Miami Dolphins were in the news daily during the offseason, but it was mainly regarding starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

- JEREMY KLUMP

There was a new rumor about who they could trade for, who does or doesn’t believe in Tagovailoa, or just some analyst who was either on Tagovailoa’s side or not.

The suffocating news coverage of Tagovailoa allowed a behind-the-scenes fire to not even let much smoke out. The only issue was that smoke kept filling up, and as it usually does in the NFL, the fire broke out and became a huge story.

That news was the Dolphins' power struggle with Defensive Player of the Year finalist and All-Pro cornerback Xavien Howard. The NFL leader with 10 interceptions in 2020 wanted a new contract after being one of the best cornerbacks in football. The only issue was that Howard had an injury history and had just signed a five-year, $75.25 million extension in 2019.

This put the dolphins in an awkward position with their best player. On the one hand, Howard had outperformed his contract, but on the other hand, he had just signed a new contract and should honor it.