Sam Madison’s plan for Xavien Howard, and nuggets on the Miami Dolphins’ cornerbacks
Part 6 of a 10-part series with notes and nuggets on all Miami Dolphins positions. Today, cornerbacks are the focus:
▪ Even before becoming the Dolphins’ new cornerbacks coach, former Dolphins Pro Bowler Sam Madison kept in touch with Xavien Howard through the years.
“I still communicated with him, and I’m going to be pulling for him to be even more elite,” Madison said. “I’ve heard he’s a really good teammate.”
The goal? “Getting him to take another jump if he can possibly,” Madison said.
His message to Howard: “You got to be X. You got to be dominant. We’re going to follow his lead. [New Dolphins assistant coach and former standout cornerback] Pat [Surtain] and I always took that lead. We need X to be X.”
▪ With general manager Chris Grier publicly showing willingness to redo Howard’s contract, Howard is expected to remain with the team next season, year three of a six year deal.
Howard is set to make $12.9 million, $11.4 million and $11.6 million in base salary the next three seasons, with roster bonuses each year ranging from $500,000 to $1.1 million. His 2022 salary is already partially guaranteed and becomes fully guaranteed March 16. He’s due to get another pay bump in the months ahead.
As for Byron Jones, he played better in his second season with Miami, and the cap hit for trading him or releasing him seems too high to make that an appealing alternative. He’s an asset on a defense that generally played well.
It was interesting that the Dolphins — who were trying to create cap space last offseason — never approached him about a restructure, suggesting they didn’t want a bigger cap commitment to him down the road.
As it stands, Jones is set to make $14.4 million, $13.5 million and $12.4 million base salaries during the next three seasons. He would get a $1.5 million roster bonus if he’s on the team in 2024.
His cap hit is $16.5 million in the 2022 season, and the Dolphins could try to reduce that number with a restructure.
If he’s cut before June 1, there would be $4.2 million in cap savings but $12.3 million in dead money. If he’s traded before June 1, there would be $10.2 million in savings and $6.3 million in dead money. It’s difficult to justify a trade or a release with those numbers in mind.
If he’s cut after June 1, there would be $8.4 million in savings and $8.1 million in dead money. If he’s traded after June 1, there would be $14.4 million in savings and $2.1 million in dead money.
But trading a contract that size after June 1 isn’t especially realistic. And why would the Dolphins want a mid-round pick in 2023 rather than having Jones on their roster next season?
Keep in mind that $6 million of Jones’ $14.4 million salary for next season already is guaranteed. The remaining $8.4 million becomes guaranteed on March 22.
So the view here is that moving on from Jones wouldn’t make sense. But the Dolphins sometimes do things that surprise everyone, including the jettisoning of Kyle Van Noy and Ereck Flowers last offseason.
▪ As for how they played, Howard closed the year with an 88.2 passer rating in his coverage area: 48 completions in 84 targets for 717 yards, with seven touchdowns permitted and five interceptions. Those numbers are courtesy of Pro Football Focus.
Jones finished with a 97.8 passer rating in his coverage area: 54 completions in 86 targets for 655 yards, three touchdowns permitted and no interceptions.
▪ Nik Needham — who had a good season — will be a restricted free agent, and the Dolphins could place a second-round tender on him, which would guarantee him no less than $3.98 million in 2022.
If they place a right of refusal tender on him, that would guarantee him no less than $2.4 million.
A first-round tender guarantees a player at least $5.56 million.
Needham had a strong 81.4 passer rating in his coverage area: 39 completions in 54 targets for 448 yards, no touchdowns and three interceptions. So Needham, during the past two seasons, allowed no TD passes against him in every game except one –—the 2020 finale in Buffalo when he permitted three TDs.
He played 272 slot coverage snaps last season without allowing a touchdown, most among all NFL corners.
What’s more, Needham has 15 quarterback pressures during the past two seasons, third most among NFL cornerbacks. (Cincinnati’s Mike Hilton is first with 18.)
Needham stands as the team’s best undrafted player pickup in at least the past three years.
▪ Justin Coleman, who played behind Needham for much of the second half of the season, is an unrestricted free agent.
He closed the year with a sterling 67.6 passer rating against — 25 completions in 36 targets for 266 yards, no TDs and two interceptions.
▪ Noah Igbinoghene (due $1.6 million) and Trill Williams ($825,000) are both under contract next season.
Igbinoghene’s salary is entirely guaranteed, but he isn’t guaranteed to stick on the 53-man roster if he struggles next August. Williams’ deal is nonguaranteed.
In limited playing time (just 78 defensive snaps), Igbinoghene allowed a 139.3 passer rating in his coverage area — five completions in seven targets for 64 yards and a touchdown.
▪ If the Dolphins move on from Jones, then they could sign a free agent or draft Clemson’s Andrew Booth Jr. or Washington teammates Trent McDuffie and Kyler Gordon in the first round. But that scenario would be surprising.
Here’s part 1 of the series on Tua Tagovailoa.
Here’s part 2 of the series on the Dolphins’ wide receivers.
Here’s part 3 of the series on Mike Gesicki.
Here’s part 4 of the series on tight end options.
Here’s part 5 of the series on running backs and options to improve the position.
This story was originally published March 7, 2022 at 3:08 PM.
