NY Giants Counting on Versatile Safety Jevon Holland to Play into Strenghts

What kind of impact will Jevon Holland make for the New York Giants in 2025?

May 28, 2025 - New York Giants safety Jevon Holland addresses the media following the team's second OTA practice. | Patricia Traina, New York Giants On SI

The NY Giants caught a lot of heat for failing to reach a contract extension with safety Xavier McKinney, who ended up signing with the Green Bay Packers in free agency during the 2024 NFL offseason. 

After seeing the safety unit struggle last season, in part due to missing McKinney’s versatility, general manager Joe Schoen went out and added a scheme-versatile safety in Jevon Holland from the Miami Dolphins.    

Holland has been one of the best up-and-coming safeties in the NFL with the Dolphins. If healthy, Holland can potentially restore what the Giants lost when McKinney left for Green Bay, but more importantly, within the fit of defensive coordinator Shane Bowen’s scheme as well as that of leadership, also lost when McKinney left.

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Jevon Holland, S

Height: 6-1
Weight: 205
EXP: 5 Years
School: Oregon
How Acquired: FA-’25

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2024 in Review

Holland had a down year production-wise for the Dolphins in 2024, playing for his third defensive coordinator in as many years.

In our review of his film, we still saw the same player who was worthy of being a second-round draft pick in 2021, particularly in terms of blitzing and athleticism at the third level. 

Where he dropped off last year was his pursuit angles and finishing tackles more than anything else. He saw his missed tackles total double from six in 2023 to 12 in 2024, two shy of his career high in 2022. 

And he only recorded two more stops in 2024 than he did in 2023, despite receiving over 100 more defensive snaps between the two seasons.

In coverage, he still handled his responsibilities, and while the turnovers weren’t there, it was rare that he gave up much ground. Holland allowed 61.5% of the pass targets he faced to be completed, which was his second-lowest career mark. 

He also allowed 302 yards on 24 catches in 2024, with 71 of those yards coming on one play–that’s 23.5% of his total yards allowed on one play.

Contract/Cap Info

The Giants made a splash in free agency by signing Holland to a three-year contract worth $45.3 million, with $27.4 million guaranteed at signing. Of this amount, $12 million ($4 million per year) was his signing bonus.

The contract makes Holland the ninth-highest-paid safety in the NFL based on the average value, and there’s a powerful case to be made that he’s more deserving than names above him.

In 2025, Holland’s salary is fully guaranteed at a $5.4 million cap hit, or 3.4% of the Giants’ total cap. He will get $500,000 in per-game roster bonuses and a $100,000 workout bonus in each year of his deal. 

The Giants can get out of the contract after the 2026 season if they so choose.  

2025 Preview

The Giants will likely have Holland and second-year player Tyler Nubin as the starting safeties in 2025, giving them one of the best young safety tandems in the NFL.

Holland steps onto the field as one of the most versatile defenders, and the expectation should be to see him line up all over the back end of the defense.

While 2025 will be Holland’s fourth straight year with a new defensive coordinator, the general responsibilities will be familiar to him, with slight changes from how he’s been used before.

For one, look for him to be blitzed more often, whereas in 2021, when he played for Brian Flores, Holland showed proficiency as a blitzer. That season, he blitzed 51 times and picked up eight pressures, including 2.5 sacks, all career highs.

Additionally, expect him to spend a significant amount of time as a deep-field defender, where his tremendous athleticism should serve him well. 

Again, during his rookie season, arguably his best, Holland managed to break up 10 passes, a career-high, while also limiting opponents to just 67 yards after the catch (YAC).

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