Dolphins have NFL’s most expensive cornerback duo. Do they have best cornerback duo?
The NFL’s most expensive cornerback tandem? That distinction goes to Miami Dolphins’ Xavien Howard and Byron Jones because the hard facts and cold cash allow no argument.
Howard was already the NFL’s highest-paid cornerback, averaging $15 million per season on a deal worth $75.25 million, when Jones signed with the Dolphins last March and whizzed past his new teammate with a deal that averages $16.5 million per season and is worth $82.5 million overall.
Today, Jones and Howard are the league’s second- and third-highest paid corners on an annual basis behind only Darius Slay’s $16.83 million average.
But together there’s no touching the duo. Their $157.75 million in combined contracts laps all contenders.
Perspective: The New England Patriots are paying $96 million in total contracts for their starting corners, and the Detroit Lions are paying $89.5 million.
But both those figures are for three corners compared to Miami’s duo. New England’s salary figures include money to Stephon Gilmore, Jonathan Jones and Jason McCourty. Detroit’s figure includes money to Desmond Trufant, Justin Coleman and rookie Jeff Okudah.
So, no arguing, the Dolphins have the NFL’s highest-paid cornerback tandem.
But the best?
That’s the more important question. That’s what will determine how well the Dolphins pass defense, 26th in passing yards allowed last season, improves for 2020.
So here’s the marker by which we will measure Jones and Howard this year: The highest-paid guys must be the best guys. No excuses.
And, to their credit, that’s their goal.
“We’re certainly working toward that, there’s no doubt about that,” Jones said Thursday. “We both excel at playing man coverage. I think [Howard] excels at attacking the ball better than me so that’s something I’m learning from him.
“But what you need to understand is nothing really matters what you did last year or the year before that. What matters is what you build today and now and going into the 2020 season. Our focus is really building our skill set now and not really relying on what we’ve done in the past.”
Fine. Let us forget what these two supremely talented players have done in the past. What they did back there is what got them paid.
What they do ahead is what determines if the investment was worthwhile.
For that $157 mil to pay dividends for the Dolphins, Howard and Jones have work to do.
For Howard, the assignment is getting back to being the player who tied for the NFL lead with seven interceptions and made the Pro Bowl in 2018. It also means overcoming knee injury obstacles that limited him to only five starts last season and caused him to start this training camp on the physically unable to perform list.
If Howard, who is currently on the COVID-19 reserve list, returns healthy then Miami’s plan for building an elite secondary has a chance.
“This is a big reason why I was brought here. It was to build on an already good secondary,” Jones said. “We have really good young players, good players who have been here in the past.
“So I’m just another piece to the puzzle in terms of a really good and really excellent Dolphins secondary. Hopefully we’ll have X back. We want to make sure he’s fully healthy first. But, yeah, we’re good. We’re a good team up and down the roster, I’d say.”
While health is Howard’s greatest challenge, Jones must figure out a way to integrate into the Miami defensive style after coming from the Dallas Cowboys and then improve on what he did with the Cowboys.
“In terms of our defensive style, it seems like we’re more man, which is fine,” Jones said. “We have the corners for it. We have the safeties for it. I’m used to being out there guarding receivers, tight ends, slot receivers, Xs and Zs, so it’s nothing different per se. It’s just a different roster, a different system.
“It’s exciting but definitely new.”
And it needs honing, refining, tuning.
“He’s a smart player. He’s a tough player. I think he can tackle, he’s got good cover skills, he’s got length, he’s got some leadership qualities,” coach Brian Flores said of Jones. “...Obviously there are some improvements he can make to his game like all players and like all coaches.
“He’s got to make some improvements. We all have to make some improvements. I know he’ll work towards that.”
Jones says the work is already underway. He’s trying to improve his ball skills so that when the football is in the air, his chance of intercepting it are as good as the receiver’s chance of catching it.
It’s a skill Jones admires in Howard. And it’s a necessary skill if Jones is going to start collecting some interceptions after not having any the past two seasons.
“Like any skill set, you work on it on a daily basis,” Jones said. “When there’s a special teams period, I go with [coaching assistant Charles Burks]. We go off to the side and work on seeing the ball in all the way. And then we work on high-pointing the ball when the ball’s in the air.
“We work on looking back, looking over the opposite shoulder. We make the drills uncomfortable so that when it happens in the game, it’s natural at that point. So it’s just a skill set like anything else — eyes, hands, feet. It’s a skill set I’m working on and every day we’re doing something to improve in that category.”
Improve Jones’s skill set, improve Howard’s healthy and durability, and the Dolphins might have something worth their $157 million cornerback investment.
They might in fact have the NFL’s best cornerback tandem.
This story was originally published August 13, 2020 at 3:26 PM.
