NFL Trade Rumors: What's the best trade destination for Xavien Howard?

The Miami Dolphins find themselves in quite the dilemma as the 2021 regular season nears. Xavien Howard, Miami's number one corner and one of the league's best overall corners, wants a new contract.

Howard has been sitting out Miami's offseason activities and remains adamant about his desire for a new contract.

Howard signed a five-year, $75,250,000 deal in 2019, but his elite level of play during the 2020 season makes that contract look like a bargain. Howard and his league-leading ten interceptions were a huge reason why the Dolphins led the league in takeaways in 2020.

Because the Dolphins have shown a refusal to give Howard a new contract and because Howard remains resolute on wanting a new deal, Miami could very well be forced to trade the All-Pro cornerback. If a trade were to take place, it begs the question: What is the best trade destination for Xavien Howard?

Ideal trade destinations for Xavien Howard?

A ton of teams should and will retain an interest in an elite-level corner like Howard, who was a potential Defensive Player of the Year candidate in 2020. Elite corners in particular hold a ton of value because the NFL is such a passing league.

Leader in INTs + PBUs in 2020? Xavien Howard 🏝pic.twitter.com/AwStS8TddR

— PFF (@PFF) July 15, 2021

That being said, there are a few potential drawbacks in a Howard trade. First being, you likely need to be a team in win-now mode to trade for Howard. Giving up the draft picks required to satisfy the Miami Dolphins wouldn't be a smart thing to do if you're a team unlikely to make the playoffs.

Second, Howard will still want a new deal with whichever team he's traded to. Whoever acquires Howard needs to be prepared to satisfy him compensation-wise. Otherwise, Howard will remain unhappy with his contract situation.

Taking all this into consideration, some teams that make sense for a Howard trade are the Cleveland Browns, the Dallas Cowboys, New Orleans Saints, Las Vegas Raiders, and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Despite the franchises above being good potential fits for Howard, the best trade destination for Howard is, quite possibly, the Arizona Cardinals.

Why the Cardinals should go all-in on Xavien Howard

The Cardinals are a team looking to win now, as evidenced by the J.J. Watt and A.J. Green signings, and they have enough wiggle room to find the cap space to satisfy Howard's contract desires.

A trade to Arizona would probably need to include the Cardinals sending a future first and another mid-round pick to the Dolphins. The Cardinals would also need to offload someone like Jordan Hicks to create additional cap space. Trading Hicks makes the most sense. The Cardinals selected Zaven Collins in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Collins is expected to play a very similar role to that of Hicks.

Cardinals defense with Howard

Arizona finished 8-8 last season and just missed the playoffs.

The Cardinals improved over the offseason, but they still lack high-level talent at the cornerback position. Right now, the projected 2021 starting corners for the Cardinals are Malcolm Butler and Robert Alford out wide with Byron Murphy in the slot.

Byron Murphy is balling out today. First the good coverage on DJ at the start of the Q1, now an almost INT.#KeepPounding #AZvsCAR pic.twitter.com/CvH5FjPXPG

— Edgar Salmingo, Jr. ✌️ (@PanthersAnalyst) October 4, 2020

Butler and Murphy are good pieces, but Alford hasn't played in an NFL game since 2018. The depth behind Alford isn't all that great, either. Getting Howard would push Alford out of the starting lineup and create a Howard-Butler-Murphy trio at the cornerback position.

With those three, the Cardinals will have a much better chance of winning games in a division that features Russell Wilson, Trey Lance/Jimmy Garoppolo, and Matthew Stafford.