MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The Miami Dolphins will have an absolutely loaded secondary in 2023 after taking South Carolina cornerback Cam Smith with the 51st overall pick.
But taking Smith tells us more about the Dolphins’ thinking for 2024 — when it will be financially feasible to move on from Xavien Howard’s contract.
What Cam Smith Pick Tells Us About Miami Dolphins’ Plan For Xavien Howard
Smith was the Dolphins’ first selection of the 2023 NFL Draft, and it’s telling that they didn’t go with the most pressing need.
Options like tight ends Darnell Washington and Tucker Kraft and offensive linemen like O’Cyrus Torrence were all available at 51.
The Dolphins instead went with Smith, who will have to compete just to be the team’s No. 3 corner this fall. He joins Howard, Jalen Ramsey, Nik Needham, Kader Kohou, and Trill Williams in what’s arguably the team’s deepest and most talented position group.
“It’s kind of a blessing,” Smith said, of joining Howard and Ramsey in Miami.
It’s entirely possible that Smith – who stands 6-foot-1, 180 pounds, and had six interceptions in 69 games at South Carolina – won’t play a ton as a rookie.
If Needham makes a full recovery from a torn Achilles, he will be the front-runner to serve as the Dolphins’ nickel. Kohou is also a solid player too, and the Dolphins were high on Williams before he got hurt in the 2022 preseason.
But this is a strategic pick, with implications beyond this year.
MORE: FREE 2023 NFL Mock Draft Simulator
And if Smith excels in 2023, it could lead to the departure of a cornerstone player. Howard is in Year 2 of a five-year, $90 million contract extension. And while he made the Pro Bowl in 2022, it wasn’t due to his performance. It was based on reputation.
Howard gave up 15.6 yards per completion, four touchdowns in his coverage area and allowed a passer rating of 101.2 in 2022.
In fairness, he was hurt for basically the entire season. But there’s no guarantee that Howard returns to the player he was in 2020 and 2021.
If he doesn’t, Smith will give the Dolphins an offramp. Howard has a $25.9 million cap figure in 2023, but the Dolphins can shed more than half of that should they cut him with a post-June 1 designation.
Make no mistake — the clock is ticking.
But the clock has just started for Smith, who was college teammates with Dolphins GM Chris Grier’s son Landon, who kept telling him the Dolphins were a real possibility if he fell that far in the draft.
Landon was prescient.