One year ago, almost to the day, the Dolphins demoted starting cornerback Byron Maxwell. Today, after starting Miami’s first two games of the 2017 regular season, Maxwell has again been relegated to the bench, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets. In fact, Maxwell has been deactivated for the team’s London matchup against New Orleans, though that’s because he tweaked his hamstring in warmups. Schefter says that Maxwell would have been active today but for the hamstring issue (Twitter links).
Maxwell has disappointed since leaving Seattle as a free agent after the 2014 season and signing a six-year, $63MM contract with Philadelphia. After the 6-foot-1, 203-pounder didn’t live up to his deal with the Eagles in 2015, they elected last offseason to send him, linebacker Kiko Alonso, and the 13th pick in the 2016 draft to Miami for the eighth overall selection in that draft.
Despite his 2016 demotion, Maxwell did end up starting 13 games for the Fins last year, and he posted a pair of interceptions for the third consecutive season. In fact, he played pretty well after his demotion, so perhaps the Dolphins are hoping for the same sort of spark this year. Maxwell currently grades out as Pro Football Focus’ 13th-worst corner out of 109 eligible players.
Rookie Cordrea Tankersley will get the start in Maxwell’s place. Tankersley, whom the Dolphins selected in the third round of this year’s draft, was inactive for the club’s first two games this season, but Miami is hoping he can become a fixture in its defensive backfield sooner rather than later. The Dolphins can release Maxwell after the season without absorbing any dead money, and they almost certainly will not bring him back on his current deal.
Maxwell go back to Seattle