It felt like, for a long while, that Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard was going to have to do something desperate in order to get the pay raise that he’s been hoping for. The Dolphins, with 4 years of contractual control left of Howard, didn’t appear willing to entertain the idea of a move — and Howard was facing little in the way of options to boost his earnings unless he started acting out as a toxic presence in order to force the Dolphins’ hand with a trade.
Things never got that far and now it appears they won’t ever. The Dolphins and Howard agreed to terms on a restructure overnight. And Howard, who has been pursuing this new deal under the direction of new representation as compared to the agent he first signed his controversial contract with, can thank his agent for helping build a formula to get the Dolphins to the table.
David Canter, who represents Howard now, has been one to play hardball with the Dolphins in the past. And with some successful business finally conducted, Canter himself took to social media to offer thanks to Miami for giving some ground to find a win-win situation.
Want to thank Coach Flores, Chris Grier and Brandon Shore for doing something unexpected and difficult to say the least. Many times over the past 8 months we all did not expect anything to happen. The organization handled us with absolute class and professionalism.
— DEC Management (@davidcanter) August 8, 2021
It is quite telling that the camp of Howard and Canter themselves did not expect any progress in the pursuit of a new deal. And hopefully this contract can serve as the breakthrough that the Dolphins need to find good faith in business with both Howard moving forward and any and all players represented by Canter.
One thing we do know is that the Dolphins will be back at the negotiating table with Howard this offseason — it is reported that Howard got assurances that, based on performance and health, the two sides will return to the table towards the beginning of the league calendar year to discuss a total overhaul of Howard’s contract.
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