Howard's Retirement Message and the Harsh Dolphins CB Reality

Former Miami Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard gave up on his comeback to the NFL after four games

Indianapolis Colts cornerback Xavien Howard (4) celebrates a fumble and a turnover Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025, during the game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. | Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Xavien Howard took to Instagram to explain his sudden retirement from the NFL, four games into his comeback after sitting out the 2024 season.

The former MIami Dolphins cornerback was placed on the reserve/retired list Wednesday evening after first showing up on the Indianapolis Colts' injury report as missing from practice for personal reasons.

Later in the evening, Howard explained his decision.

Very simply, Howard said he had come to the realization that family — spending time with his children — now meant more to him than football.

Howard's sudden retirement came at a time when there were questions being asked in Indianapolis about his job status in the wake of a poor start.

A four-time Pro Bowl selection during his eight years with the Dolphins, Howard didn't look like the same player this season after he joined the Colts late in training camp.

As it turned out, Howard's one highlight moment during his brief time with the Colts came against the Dolphins in the season opener when he recovered a fumble during Indy's 33-8 victory.

But Howard's work in coverage simply was nowhwere near his usual standards, the latest example coming in a 27-20 loss against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.

According to Pro Football Focus, these were Howard's coverage numbers against the Rams in a 27-20 loss that will be more remember for teammate Adonai Mitchell fumbling as he was about to cross the goal line to turn an Indy touchdown into a touchback: 7 receptions allowed on 9 targets (77.8%); 112 receiving yards surrendered; 1 TD allowed; 155.6 passer rating against (remember that a perfect passer rating is 158.3).

It was bad enough, in fact, that head coach Shane Steichen was asked about Howard's poor performance and a common storyline is what the Colts can do about their cornerback problem.

For the season, Howard is allowing a 124.3 passer rating when targeted, per Pro Football Reference, and that would represent the worst showing of his career. In his last season with the Dolphins in 2023 (before he was released the following offseason), Howard's opponent passer rating when targeted was a very good 81.3.

The Dolphins released Howard during the 2024 offseason in a salary-cap move after he ended the previous season on the sideline with a foot injury. Howard visited the Dallas Cowboys and Cincinnati Bengals last season but didn't sign with any team.

After defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo moved from the Bengals to the Colts this offseason, the former Dolphins assistant coach brought back Howard in the hopes they could rekindle the magic that was produced in Miami.

That didn't come close to happening, and now Howard is done.

THE HARSH DOLPHINS CORNERBACK REALITY

While he hasn't been a member of the Dolphins since the 2024 offseason, Howard still counts $15.7 million against the team's salary cap this year because of signing bonus proration.

In fact, the team's top three cap charges for cornerbacks this year belong to players no longer on the roster — with Jalen Ramsey at $15 million and Kendall Fuller at $5.4 million (all figures per Over The Cap).

The next player on the list is Kader Kohou with a $3.3 million average and he's spending the entire season on injured reserve because of his training camp knee injury.

Among active cornerbacks, Rasul Douglas and JuJu Brents — claimed off waivers from the Colts after he was a second-round pick in 2023 — share the highest 2025 cap number at a very modest $1.5 million.

That $36.1 million cap space the Dolphins are devoting to Howard, Ramsey and Fuller sure could have come in handy for help at other positions this year like, say, the offensive line perhaps.

But dead cap money isn't an issue unique to the Dolphins, who rank actually 10th in the league in that department in 2025 with a total of $56.7 million, per Over The Cap. They're far behind the San Francisco 49ers, who lead the way with $99 million of dead cap space.

At the very least for the Dolphins, they've actually gotten solid cornerback play this season with Douglas and Jack Jones as the new starters.

So Miami isn't so much missing Howard and Ramsey as it would be missing the cap space they're taking up.