Miami Dolphins: Trading Xavien Howard Will Be Their Biggest Mistake

Rebuild. Tanking. Reset. Call it whatever you will, the Miami Dolphins will not be good next season. The team looks to finally shed their “win, now” mentality and will instead shake the foundation of their team down to it’s core. One of the most important things the Dolphins need to do, even if they’re tanking, is decide which of their currently contracted players should have a future in Miami.

Players like Xavien Howard.

Howard has shown tremendous talent for the Miami Dolphins and is exactly the type of player teams want to have on board for the long haul. However, the rumors are persisting that the Dolphins are looking to tank this season and Howard might be a casualty of that process. There’s bonehead moves, and then there’s the biggest mistake a team could make.

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We all saw Howard tie the league lead in interceptions this season. We all saw his splashy play in the Pro Bowl. Xavien Howard has definitely made his case for a new contract. In 2019, he’ll be on the last year of his rookie deal playing at a very team friendly $1.95 million dollars, but he wants to get paid.

So the rumor persists that the Dolphins will likely move on from Howard, but at what cost? Trading Howard, even if they draft a player with similar talent and break out ability, its a stall at best. That might buy them a year or two until that player wants to get paid as well. The whole point of rebuilding is acquiring your corner stone talent you can build a franchise around. You know, guys like Xavien Howard.

If the team truly is in rebuild mode, who are they paying in free agency? They’ll go out and get minimum contract guys to fill holes on the roster and barely squeak out something that will resemble a football team. Spending on a player who is exactly the type you want to rebuild around is wiser than not spending and trying to piece together the position for years to come.

If anything the Miami Dolphins should be learning from their quarterback situation. Remember when they had one of the most talented players in the league in Dan Marino, then once he decided to hang it up they never recovered from it? Game-changing players are hard to come by. When you find them, you hold on to them. Sure, the new mentality is don’t bring any overpriced free agents who don’t fit the mold of what you’re trying to build but that’s not Xavien Howard. One bad contract isn’t going to derail a season you’re already going to tank.

Besides, how long does a rebuild last? A season? Two seasons? If Miami offers a 5-year deal and can’t show promise in those two years, the market for someone with Howard’s skill set is sure to be there. However, if they hang on to one of their game changers early in his career, and Minkah Fitzpatrick turns out to be the player they’d hoped, the blueprint for a dominating defense has been drawn up.

But let’s face it, these are the Miami Dolphins, and they don’t always look at the bigger picture.