Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores said Friday that he doesn’t want to see star cornerback Xavien Howard traded from the team.
“We don’t want to trade X. You can write that down,” Flores said. “He’s a very good player. He’s a big part of the team. We don’t want to trade him.”
Howard, 28, reported to training camp on July 27 and requested a trade later that night.
The two-time Pro Bowl selection will have a base salary of $12.075 million in 2021. However, teammate Byron Jones will make more this season ($14 million) after signing a five-year, $82.5 million contract in March 2020.
Flores said progress is being made on resolving the contract situation, but wasn’t interested in going into detail on Friday.
“Last week I stood up here and I’ll say it again — talks are progressing,” Flores said. “I’m not going to get into the details of those conversations, but talks are progressing. You take (from) that what you want. And, again, these things, they take time. But as long as the lines of communication are open, as long as everyone’s willing to compromise, then we can get something done.”
Howard led the NFL with 10 interceptions and 20 passes defensed last season and added 51 tackles and one forced fumble in 16 games. He has 191 tackles, 22 interceptions and two forced fumbles in 56 career games (55 starts) since being selected by Miami in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft.