Getty Images If you’ve paid any attention to how new contracts get reported, you know the routine by now. The initial reports often are inflated, with deliberately vague terms (like total guarantee instead of full guarantee at signing) and a new-money analysis (which always makes the deal seem better than it is). Then, inevitably, the real numbers emerge. Here are the real numbers of the new contract signed by Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard. Reported as a five-year, $76.5 million deal with $46 million guaranteed, it’s actually a six-year, $76.53 million deal, with the specific terms set forth below. 1. Signing bonus: $7 million. 2. 2019 roster bonus: $7 million, fully guaranteed. 3. 2019 base salary: $1,285,641, fully guaranteed. 4. 2020 base salary: $11.9 million, fully guaranteed. 5. 2021 base salary: $12.075 million, guaranteed for injury at signing, and fully guaranteed as of the fifth day of the 2020 league year. 6. 2022 base salary: $12.375 million, $6.775 million of which is guaranteed for injury only. 7. 2023 base salary: $11.4 million. 8. 2024 base salary: $11.65 million. 9. Workout bonuses: $25,000 in 2020, $25,000 in 2021, $100,000 in 2022, $100,000 in 2023, and $100,000 in 2024. 10. Per-game roster bonuses: $31,250 per game from 2022 through 2024, for a maximum of $500,000 per year. Now, some analysis. First, the base salary of the extension isn’t $76.5 million. It’s $75.25 million, if he earns the full amount of the workout bonuses and per-game roster bonuses. That’s a new-money average of $15.05 million, beating Josh Norman‘s prior high-water mark by only $50,000 per year, three years after Norman’s deal was signed. (And, as previously mentioned, Norman’s five-year deal was worth $15 million from signing; Howard’s deal was worth $12.75 million per year at signing.) Second, the full guarantee at signing is $27.18 million. The practical guarantee at signing is $39.26 million, since the 2021 base salary becomes fully guaranteed on the fifth day of the 2020 league year. (The Dolphins can avoid owing Howard $39.26 million only but cutting him after one year, at a price of $27.18 million.) Third, the total guarantee is indeed $46 million, but the final $6.775 million in injury guarantees never convert to a full guarantee. Fourth, the cash flow is as follows: $15.285 million through 2019, $27.214 million through 2020, and $39.31 million through 2021. It becomes a year-to-year deal from 2022 through 2024, at a time when the salary cap (and the cornerback market) should be much higher than it currently is. Again, that’s the biggest problem with the contract. The money after 2021 isn’t guaranteed, beyond $6.775 million guaranteed for injury only in 2022. The Dolphins will control Howard’s rights on a year-to-year basis at that point, with the ability to pay him what surely will be below-market amounts in the final three years if he’s playing well, and the ability to cut him loose if he isn’t playing well. It’s not a bad deal per se, but it’s not the kind of deal that should have been characterized the way that it was by the initial reports regarding its value. Howard has opted to accept a sizable bird in the hand, but if he had been willing to carry for one more season the risk of injury and ineffectiveness, he would have been able to use the franchise tag (currently, $16 million for cornerbacks) as the starting point for a much more lucrative deal than the contract he accepted. Ultimately, he chose not to reject what amounts to life-changing money. And that’s fine. But to take his willingness to accept what ultimately is, for Howard, a “safe” compromise doesn’t justify selling it as the best contract any cornerback has ever signed. It isn’t. Nine months from now, with the leverage that comes from the franchise tag, it could have been.<doc-sep>The Xavien Howard contract left some people questioning whether it was the right move to make. It made complete sense for the Dolphins, as the contract rewards a playmaker on defense for his performance on the field and the hard work it has taken to reach this point. But this contract also sends a message to the rest of the team. Players like running back Kenyan Drake and left tackle Laremy Tunsil are entering contract years — although Tunsil does have a fifth-year team option for 2020 — and both will eventually be looking to get paid next. Howard’s contract gives them hope that they will be paid if they follow the same pathway as Howard: work hard and produce. That message should be loud and clear to the Dolphins locker room. If you buy into the program, stay dedicated to the craft and produce on the field, the Dolphins will see to it that you’re taken care of. Players also have to know they need to show trust in the other party with their negotiations. Howard played nice with the Miami brass as each side was posturing for a deal — and the Dolphins acted swiftly. Chris Grier and his front office are working to earn the trust of the players and give them a reason to buy in. The message with this contract: Not only are players buying in to win, they can buy in for their financial future.<doc-sep>Getty Images The quid pro quo for getting the scoop on a new player contract includes hyping the deal in an effort to make it look better than it is. And that’s definitely what those who got first word of Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard‘s deal did. While it’s true that his five-year, $76.5 million extension has a new-money value of $15.3 million per year (which those who got the scoop breathlessly reported), the total value from signing of the six-year contract, when including the $1.285 million he was due to earn in 2019, stands at $77.785 million, an average of only $12.96 million per year. With the cornerback franchise tag at $16 million for 2019 and certain to go up in 2020, Howard gave the team a steep discount and, more importantly, he committed to the Dolphins for six years. As the cap continues to go up and up and up, thanks to a looming CBA, looming TV deals, and looming gambling revenue (my limit for using “looming” is closing in), that deal will look worse and worse, sooner than later. Three years ago, Washington cornerback Josh Norman signed a five-year contract with a firm average of $15 million at signing. Last year, Jets cornerback Trumaine Johnson signed a five-year contract worth $14.5 million per year at signing. Two years ago, Jaguars cornerback A.J. Bouye signed a five-year contract worth $13.5 million at signing. That same year, Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore signed a five-year contract worth $13 million at signing. Each of those deals carries a greater annual average at signing than the deal signed by Howard, who could have played out his rookie contract and forced the Dolphins to tag him (at more than $16 million) or to let him hit the open market, where he definitely would have gotten a deal worth more than $12.96 million per year — at a commitment of less than six years. But, hey, Howard and his agent got to crow for a little while about having the best cornerback contract in NFL history. Even though, on closer examination, it isn’t.<doc-sep>Howard, who has 11 interceptions and 25 pass breakups in 28 games the past two seasons, is viewed as one of the key building blocks for the defense new coach Brian Flores is trying to build in Miami. Howard, who made his first Pro Bowl last season despite missing the final four games because of a knee injury, is now under contract with the Dolphins until 2024.<doc-sep>
On the surface, the Xavien Howard contract is an absolute monster. The Miami Dolphins agreed on a 5-year extension with Howard, worth a maximum of $76M — a deal that was finalized today when Howard signed on the dotted line. There are some record setting numbers on the surface of this deal, but upon closer inspection it’s clear that both Howard and the Dolphins will emerge as winners. As bloated as the initial numbers for any NFL contract are, the truly defining numbers are the total guaranteed money and the distribution of that guaranteed cash. Looking closely at Xavien Howard’s contract reveals that this extension is — in all practicality — a 3-year extension instead of a 5-year one. How? Because the Dolphins are on the hook for large sums of guaranteed money at the front end of the contract, the team would only incur a $2.8M cap penalty if they decided to part ways with Howard after the 2021 season — the halfway point of this extension. Of course, no one hopes that things come to that and that Howard and the Dolphins will enjoy a long, fruitful marriage together. But in the event that Howard’s play stumbles or his past knee issues arise again and become too much for him to overcome, the Dolphins are protected from sunken cost and being on the hook for years to come. Mark this down as a win for Xavien Howard — but also a win for the Miami Dolphins. These are the best kind of wins, the kind where everyone goes home happy.