The team spent time in recent days studying Haden. Miami has a need at cornerback made acute by the loss of Tony Lippett to a season-ending Achilles’ tear and a sudden decline in performance by Byron Maxwell.
But the Dolphins had no interest in trading for Haden, which would have forced them to not only take on his enormous contract but also give up trade compensation for the 5-11 cornerback.
The Dolphins would like Haden but at some sort of bargain situation. Or perhaps even at some sort of trial situation.
Haden, 28, has $4 million guarantee coming to him from the Cleveland Browns. The Dolphins, as well as other teams, know this. And the team might like to somehow use this as a way of getting Haden to Miami without having an onerous affect on the salary cap.
That might involve any number of options, one of which is signing Haden to a one-year deal for the minimum. The new team would pay that minimum and Cleveland would be required to pay the rest to get Haden to $4 million.
Haden and his agent Drew Rosenhaus are probably aiming higher. They probably want a long-term contract that pays Haden like a top NFL cornerback. Haden was averaging $13.5 million per season on his Cleveland contract.
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