Former Miami Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard, who was released last week, stated this morning that any chance of him returning to the Miami Dolphins will not happen. Per Howard, “that door is closed.”

Last week, Miami cut Howard with a Post-June 1st designation that will open up over $18 million in salary cap space after June 1st of this year. After they notified Howard of his release, Chris Grier at the NFL Scouting Combine said he was open to having Howard return to the team if the deal was right. It sounds like Xavien Howard doesn’t want to play for the Dolphins anymore and will test the free-agent market and find a new home for 2024.

Howard was a 2nd round pick by the Dolphins in 2016. He has played eight seasons for Miami and has 29 interceptions. In 2022, Howard signed a five-year contract with $50.69 million in new money. The new deal replaced the final three years of his previous contract, which was to have paid him $39.3 million through 2024.

In-house, Miami has an unknown in Cam Smith, Kader Kohou, who is coming off a down season and is more of a nickel CB than a boundary CB, and nobody else on the roster you would want to compete for a starting job.

Eli Apple and Nik Needham are free agents, and Miami doesn’t have a ton of salary cap space to be big spenders this offseason to find a high-priced cornerback.