The Miami Dolphins have agreed to a five-year $50.7 million contract with three-time Pro Bowl cornerback Xavien Howard. While this sounds like a steal of deal, it is not what it appears. The $50.7 million is actually new money, which is being added to the money that was left on his old contract after the 2021 season ended. This means that Howard will earn $25 million annually in his new deal.
Dolphins star CB Xavien Howard has agreed to new 5-year contract with 50.7M in new money for new money APY of $25.35M per year. Highest average salary for CB in NFL Deal done by agent @davidcanter.
— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) April 1, 2022
What Does This Mean for Jaire Alexander?
Jaire Alexander is entering his fifth season in the NFL. The Green Bay Packers previously picked up his fifth-year option, which will pay him $13 million in 2022. Many have been speculating for months that the Packers would extend Jaire Alexander to help free up salary cap space in 2022 and beyond. The two sides have been rumored to be in talks, but nothing has happened yet.
One of the reasons for this is Jaire Alexander expects to be the highest paid cornerback in the NFL. In his four seasons in the NFL, Alexander has established himself as one of the best, if not the absolute best, cornerbacks in the league. Even though he does not have the interception numbers, he consistently holds other teams’ top wide receivers to very few catches and low yardage totals. In 2020, his Pro Bowl year, opposing quarterbacks had a passer rating of just 67.4 when targeting receivers Alexander was covering.
Prior to the Xavien Howard extension, Jalen Ramsey was the highest paid cornerback in the NFL. His contract pay him about $20 million annually. The talks between Alexander and the Packers will certainly be more interesting.
The Davante Adams Precedent
If there is any indication of how the Packers will approach negotiations with Jaire Alexander, it is how they approached them with Davante Adams. When the Packers and Adams entered contract negotiations, they quickly stalled over a disagreement over what the highest paid wide receiver in the NFL, DeAndre Hopkins, actually made per year. Adams used the two-year $54 million extension for an annual average of $27 million as his figure. The Packers, on the other hand, viewed the contract as whole, which pays Hopkins about $20 million per year. The two sides never came to an agreement, hence Adams’ trade.
The question, then, is this: will Jaire Alexander view the $25 million per year salary of Xavien Howard as the new standard, or will he agree with the $20 million number of Jalen Ramsey’s contract? The Packers, of course, will view the lesser number.
As stated, things just got more interesting.
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