Anytime I criticized the deal Howard got, I’d get downvoted. Apparently having a rookie QB was a good enough reason to extend an average tackle with top 5 money for their position. Now, he’s out for the year after average right tackle play. I said from the get go it made no sense to overpay for an average lineman. Now we have a bad contract for the next 4 years. We will be cutting him, and it’ll cost $10.8 M in dead cap to do so In 2 years unless he somehow becomes a player he’s never been (Elite).
I hope everyone understands why you franchise average first round picks that haven’t shown that they’re an elite level talent. He should’ve either been traded or franchise tagged. He never did anything to justify the contract and no one would’ve paid him that money on the open market.
I kept hearing having a rookie QB was a good reason to pay Howard, but you don’t overpay average players. I hope this sub has learned a lesson in not overpaying average players just because you have a rookie QB.
Definitely an overpay at the time but the hope was he would continue on an upward trajectory, which did not pan out. He can be cut in 2025 with $10.8 mil in dead cap and $9.7 mil in savings, or more likely in 2026 with only 4.5 dead and 18 in savings. He’ll either agree to a pay cut/restructure in 2025 or be cut by 2026, so the contract is not as bad as you suggested with being paid as a top 5 rt for the next 4 years.