Miami Dolphins sign second round pick Xavien Howard

The Miami Dolphins this evening signed second-round pick Xavien Howard, leaving three rookies yet to be signed from their eight-man draft class.

Howard follows the signing of first-rounder Laremy Tunsil, sixth-rounder Jakeem Grant, sixth-rounder Jordan Lucas, and seventh-rounder Brandon Doughty.

Howard was a three-year letterman (2013-15) and two-year starter at Baylor, where he played in 39 career games and made 26 starts. He totaled 98 tackles (84 solo), 1.5 sacks, 10 interceptions and 33 passes defensed in his career and was part of a Baylor program during its most successful four-year span in school history. He earned consensus first-team All-Big 12 honors as a junior in 2015, recording 42 tackles (37 solo), five interceptions and 15 passes defensed. Howard is a native of Houston.

Third rounders Leonte Carroo and Kenyan Drake and seventh-rounder Thomas Duarte have yet to sign. However, the team is not concerned about getting all the deals in time for training camp.

Despite not yet having deals, both Carroo and Drake have been in the team's strength and conditioning program because they signed insurance waivers to ward against injuries. Duarte is the lone rookie not at the team's offseason and conditioning program because UCLA is on the quarters system and thus the player's class has not yet graduated.

This story was originally published May 18, 2016 at 5:54 PM with the headline "Miami Dolphins sign second round pick Xavien Howard."