Xavien Howard is the lucky one. Or — depending on your perspective, he may be the unlucky one. The one who just signed a big contract extension with the Dolphins and is locked and loaded as the team’s lone star for 2019 on a big money contract. Yes, Miami still has other talent — LB Jerome Baker is thriving in his second year and the Dolphins really love what they have in DL Christian Wilkins.
But Howard is the only “household” name left on the roster after the Dolphins dealt Laremy Tunsil, Kenny Stills and Minkah Fitzpatrick over the last two weeks. And Howard took to Twitter after the Fitzpatrick news hit to fire off a simple –and hilarious — message.
Well…what else can you say? The pace of Miami’s departures has been pretty stunning. But teams are pressing to position themselves to compete in 2019 and the Dolphins have capitalized on the desperation to maximize their value.
And while it’s hard to blame Miami for effectively ushering the old guard out the door, it’s even harder to not feel for Howard. Howard has been a dedicated talent who has busted his tail to become one of the best corners in football. But it is that same commitment to himself and his craft that makes Howard one of the perfect leaders to usher Miami into a new era of Dolphins football.
The team just needs a little bit of time.
