Indianapolis – Mike McDaniel said magic words on Tuesday.
Jevon Holland has “won the right” to go and test the free agent market after spending the last four seasons with the Miami dolphins.
This means that the Dolphins will not put the franchise label in the Holland, the choice of second round in 2021 of Oregon, and that means that it will probably leave Miami because it is considered among the most attractive free agents from the upcoming market.
On the basis of which you believe, Holland should win a contract which will be worth north of $ 16 million a year and this could be even more than that.
Dolphins have a lot of positions to fill this off -season according to the presence of 47 players currently under contract for the 2025 season and a risk of a risk ceiling, although there are means for the team to create more space.
The main thing is that Holland has been a solid player for dolphins, but perhaps not someone he wants to spend the kind of money that he is likely to obtain free agents on the market.
And the idea of using the franchise or the transition tag did not make sense since it locks the beacon number ($ 20.1 million for the franchise, $ 16 million for the transition) on The ceiling makes it even more delicate.
The expression “has won the law” to test the market for free agents is not new with the dolphins because GM Chris Grier said the same thing about the tight winger Mike Gesicki in 2023 and about the ‘Defensive striker Christian Wilkins, last season, and these two players injured leaving.
Gesicki signed with the Patriots of New England and Wilkins signed with the Raiders of Las Vegas.
Although Gesicki no longer fits into the team’s plans, with Wilkins, it was that the Dolphins did not want to spend the type of amount it would take to keep it.
This is what is happening with Holland, which was a good but not a big player, no matter what some analysis sites could suggest.
Holland leaving will probably leave two vacancies in security, because it would be surprising if the Dolphins will bring back the veteran Jordan Poyer, who is at the end of his career in the NFL.
The only security currently under contract for 2025 is the choice of sixth round in 2024, Patrick McMorris, and the team is to use the free agency and the project to approach the position.
But given their position needs, spending a lot of money to keep Holland was not an attractive option.
Otherwise, this would not be a case of Holland having “won the right” to test the market for free agents, it would be that the Dolphins wanted to prevent their player from doing this exactly.
