MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Stop us if you’ve heard this before:
One of the Miami Dolphins‘ top defensive players is in the final year of his rookie contract, and while he’s seen a number of his teammates get paid, the odds are good he has to bet on himself ahead of what could be a lucrative free agency.
Basically, any take we had for Christian Wilkins in 2023 can be recycled and repurposed for Jevon Holland in 2024.
Will Jevon Holland Be Next Miami Dolphins Player To Cash In?
The Dolphins this offseason handed out new deals to Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill, and Jaylen Waddle that totaled nearly a half-billion dollars.
So why has Holland not joined the party? He is apparently in the same spot Wilkins was 12 months ago: Far from an extension as the regular season approaches.
And as was the case with Wilkins a year ago, the price for Holland (barring injury or a complete collapse in performance) is only going to go up the closer we get to March. This past March, Wilkins signed a four-year, $110 million contract with the Las Vegas Raiders that the Dolphins simply couldn’t afford to match.
Dolphins fans should prepare themselves for a replay of that movie next offseason if they don’t lock down Holland in the coming weeks.
The closer Holland gets to free agency, the less inclined he will presumably get to sign with the Dolphins. Athletes who get that close to free agency often want to get a sense of their true market value.
“It’s not like I’m dictating time on my contract because if I was dictating the time, I would’ve got paid my rookie year,” Holland said (largely) in jest earlier in training camp. “When it comes, it comes. I can’t control any of that. Whenever they want to, I’ll pick up the phone, but I’m out here every day just trying to get better.”
Credit Holland for not making waves. But at some point, he and his agent, David Mulugheta (who also handled the Wilkins negotiations), are going to play hardball with Miami.
And the Dolphins might not have any good options when they do. They’re tens of millions of dollars over the 2025 salary cap, which not only makes a Holland extension difficult, it makes Miami using the franchise tag on him next winter even harder.
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The estimated tag number for safeties in 2025 is $18.8 million, which, quite frankly, the Dolphins cannot afford.
Their only viable path to retaining Holland beyond this season is with an extension that keeps his cap number down in the short term. Our guess based on the market for Holland starts at $17 million annually — and will probably ultimately exceed that.
“I love Jevon,” head coach Mike McDaniel said Monday when asked about the Holland contract situation.
“Jevon’s been working on his game like he always does. He’s having a really good camp and really taken to the scheme. That’s where my expertise lies, which is why, fortunately for me, I chose coaching as a career path. I did not jump alongside Chris Grier in the front office portion of football for a reason. I’ll let him go through that process.
“[Holland] is an invaluable member to the Dolphins, and I’m excited to see him progress today. And beyond that, in terms of timetables and conversations, man that dude is working all the time. I know it’s on his plate, where it is. I try to focus my attention on the stuff he’s depending on me to focus.”