Former Miami Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard has decided to retire after just four games into the 2025 NFL season.
The Indianapolis Colts, who signed Howard in August, announced on Wednesday that Howard has been placed on the reserve/retired list, which means he has decided to hang up his cleats.
Howard had a strong start to the season with a good game in Week 1, but things began to go south over the last three weeks. He particularly had issues in the Week 4 game against the Los Angeles Rams when Indy lost suffered its first loss.
"You're playing against an elite passing game with two elite receivers and a quarterback, and at some point, rust or no rust, we've got to make sure we're out there and guarding the guys we're tasked to guard. We've all got to do a better job. Not just [Xavien Howard], but me," Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo said Tuesday.
Through four games this season, Howard had given up a completion rate of 66.7% and a passer rating of 124.3 when targeted. He started in all four contests for the 3-1 Colts.
A former second-round pick of the Dolphins in 2016, Howard developed into one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL over his first seven seasons and was named to four Pro Bowls and received two All-Pro nods in that span.
But Howard saw a considerable drop-off in the quality of his play in 2023 and was released by the Dolphins in 2024.
Howard didn't play a single snap last season because of injuries and off-the-field issues that included a civil case against him.
"So, I just really just let my body heal up," Howard said last month. "Then, some legal stuff popped up and [teams] were asking about it and then they stopped."
With the extra roster spot, the Colts added safety Trey Washington from the practice squad to the 53-man roster.
MORE NFL NEWS
- Lions make unfortunate decision on injured cornerback D.J. Reed
- Zac Taylor makes Bengals starting QB announcement after Jake Browning's struggles
- Ravens QB Lamar Jackson's week off to bad start after latest injury update
- Official Trey Benson injury update from Cardinals is worse than expected
- Bucky Irving injury update is terrible news for Bucs RB's Week 5 status
- Shedeur Sanders gets disappointing update after Browns QB change
- Ravens' historic defensive ineptitude summed up in one stat