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It appears that defensive back Jevon Holland will have to test the NFL free agency. The 24-year-old Miami Dolphins safety doesn’t have a contract for the 2025 NFL season and beyond, and while there is the possibility that he gets franchise tagged, it doesn’t seem that’s part of the AFC East franchise’s plan in the offseason, according to Cameron Wolfe of the NFL Network.
“The Dolphins do not plan to tag Jevon Holland and this sounds like as of now, they will allow him to test the free agent market,” Wolfe said. “It’s not a surprise given their cap situation, they have a lot of needs elsewhere and not as much money to spend it on.
The Dolphins’ cap situation makes it a challenge for them to spend franchise tag money on Holland, who, despite a mediocre 2024 campaign, can still generate plenty of interest from teams looking to shore up their defense, particularly against the pass.
Miami only has around $5.4 million in cap space for the 2025 campaign, and franchise tagging Holland just doesn’t look ideal at the moment for the team. It remains to be seen what the official franchise tag will be for safeties in the coming season, but according to OverTheCap’s projection, it could be at $19.6 million.
Holland had a down year in 2024, as he recorded four passes defended, a forced fumble, 62 combined tackles and two quarterback hits through 15 games with the Dolphins, whose stop unit was 10th against the pass, allowing 210.7 passing yards per outing. Holland, who will turn 25 years old in March, finished just 109th among NFL safeties in 2024 with a 57.1 coverage grade and 89th with an overall rating of 63.0, per Pro Football Focus.
That being said, Wolfe implied that Holland should find ample attention in the free agent market.
“But Jevon Holland is listed as the top safety on a lot of people’s boards and he’s gonna get a chance to test that market and see where he can cash in big time on a potential new payday. And look, this is a guy who was a three times captain in Miami and explosive playmaker,” Wolfe shared.
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