Kelly: Dolphins seemingly ready to move on from Jevon Holland
Jevon Holland claims he’s always dreamed of living in a downtown loft in a high-rise filled city, not some suburban home on the outskirts of town.
Holland said this on his latest Breakin’ House Rules podcast this week, pointing out that he’s excited to go new home shopping again. It appears the Miami Dolphins will give him that opportunity by letting the four-year starter become an unrestricted free agent, putting the free safety in position to become the latest Dolphins defector.
“Jevon has earned the right to go out and test his market. That’s something that I don’t look as a negative,” coach Mike McDaniel said in his Tuesday media session at the NFL Combine. “What I don’t want is players being here and wishing they were somewhere else.”
Translation: McDaniel just delivered Holland the long kiss goodbye the Dolphins organization typically gives players they develop, whom they know the franchise won’t be re-signing.
Over the years, the Dolphins have given the same response when asked about most of the upper echelon players they’ve developed whom the organization concludes are about to be overpaid in free agency.
It’s more of a “we’ll see,” instead of a “we’d love to have him back” response.
Or a “using a tag is an option,” which refers to the franchise tag ($19.6 millions) or transition tag ($15.6 million) the Dolphins could place on Holland, discouraging teams from bidding on him.
But let’s be honest, Holland isn’t worth those exorbitant one-year deals, and the Dolphins would probably prefer the compensatory pick they’d possibly get in 2026 for losing him.
Holland, who contributed 62 tackles, one sack and one forced fumble in the 15 games he played in 2024, sucked last season, with the exception of the forced fumble he caused in the season-opener, which set the Dolphins up to pull off that fourth-quarter, come-from-behind 20-17 victory over the Jacksonville.
Holland played last season like he was preserving his body for the upcoming offseason, for his next team, and there’s no shame in that considering Miami decided not to extend his deal last year.
And on top of that, Holland not only broke a bone in his hand early in the season, but he also suffered and fought through a knee injury in the second half of the year.
He played through it all, and spent most of the season unbothered because he knows his sports agency has a history of getting young talents like him paid.
If he leaves like Christian Wilkins, Robert Hunt, Andrew Van Ginkel, Brandon Jones, and Raekwon Davis did last offseason, it’s going to look bad when he signs a big contract elsewhere.
But that’s the price of doing business in the NFL. It’s the reason you don’t let young talent with upside hit free agency at a young age.
“I’m excited. I’m 24, about to be 25,” Holland said on Breakin’ House Rules. “It’s surreal. Stepping into another organization, or the same organization. We don’t know. Say I do go to another organization….”
He never completed that thought, but it’s pretty clear where Holland’s leaning if you read between the lines, and it’s likely that his agent is uncovering which teams are interested, and what price point they’ll pay, at this week’s NFL Combine, which is really designed to help agents tamper to set up free agency.
The true test of whether or not Miami’s making the right decision with Holland is whether the team that signs him regrets the contract two-years in, and who, and how did Miami replace him?
NFL.com ranks Holland as the 17th best player expected to become an unrestricted free agent.
The website wrote that Holland’s “a good player with a penchant for big plays, [but] Holland hasn’t looked the same since his 2023 knee injury. It’s unclear how much a down 2024 season will hurt his value because he should be the top safety available.”
ProFootballFocus.com lists him as the third best free agent prospect overall, behind only Cincinnati receiver Tee Higgins and Kansas City offensive guard Trey Smith, and justified it by saying: “He earned a career-low 63.0 PFF overall grade in 2024, but his body of work more than speaks for itself.”
Body of work?
Excuse me for having a higher standard for a safety.
Holland, who averaged five tackles a game and produced five interceptions, five forced fumbles and five sacks in his 60 games, played like a placeholder at safety.
He’s consistently been over-hyped by analytic sites that I personally believe some sports agencies have on their payroll (I said what I said).
Paying a safety who has averaged five tackles a game, and 1.25 sacks, 1.25 forced fumbles and 1.25 interceptions a season $15-plus million a year should be viewed as irresponsible, especially for Miami considering the franchise’s funds are tight this offseason because years of irresponsible cap management adds up.
Reshad Jones, a two-time Pro Bowler who played 10 seasons for the Dolphins, set the bar for that position in Miami. Jones was a playmaker who recorded 21 interceptions, 10.5 sacks, forced three fumbles and recovered another seven in his 10 seasons.
That’s a playmaking safety you pay.
Just like Holland’s shopping for a downtown loft, the Dolphins should be shopping for a safety who can set the tone for Anthony Weaver’s defense, creating more turnovers and impact plays.
Whether it’s by targeting a rookie like Georgia’s Malaki Starks or South Carolina’s Nick Emmanwori early in the 2025 NFL draft, or signing a veteran like San Francisco’s Talanoa Hufanga or former Pro Bowler Justin Simmons, the Dolphins shouldn’t be afraid to move on.
And clearly neither is Holland.
