Can Jevon Holland Up His Game in Year 2 With the Giants?

This New York Giants safety room has been built with significant investment in free agency by signing Jevon Holland from the Miami Dolphins and using a second-round pick in 2024 on Minnesota’s Tyler Nubin.

Holland currently has the ninth-highest AAV (Average Annual Value) among safeties in the NFL, but certainly didn’t perform up to that standard in his first year with the Giants.

It’s safe to say that the room underperformed during the 2025 season, with both Holland (three games) and Nubin (four) missing time.

Despite missing those games, the duo played the overwhelming majority of snaps in the games they were available, and the pair played more defensive snaps than anyone else on the defense, other than Bobby Okereke, Brian Burns, and Abdul Carter.

The duo is projected to be back as the starters once again for the 2026 season under new head coach John Harbaugh and new defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson, and will likely be put in a better position to succeed. Let’s zero in on Holland and his upcoming season.

Jevon Holland, S

Height: 6-1
Weight: 207
EXP: 6 Years
School: Oregon
How Acquired: FA-’25

2025 in Review

Throughout his career, Holland was considered one of the more versatile safeties in the NFL, with regard to positional alignment and coverage responsibilities. That said, his first year with the Giants was an underwhelming one.

With the Giants last year, Holland was placed in a box more often, playing 64.1% of his snaps as the deep safety, his highest percentage since his second year with the Dolphins in 2022. That helped keep his overall season numbers down.

Holland’s scheme versatility saw him fare well in both man and zone coverage, with zone being the majority of his snaps. He tackled reasonably well, missing just seven tackles all season, two of those coming in run support.

Production-wise, he had just one interception and pass defense with 63 total tackles, and for the first time in his career, no tackles for a loss, no forced fumbles, and no fumble recoveries.

For what it's worth, Holland was only targeted 31 times in coverage, his lowest career total since his rookie campaign in 2021, and his 93.9 coverage rate was the third-lowest mark of his career.

Overall, a healthy Holland proved to be more athletic and disciplined than his peers, and he often covered for others' missed assignments.

Contract/Cap Info

Holland signed a three-year contract worth $45.300 million with $27.4 million fully guaranteed at signing, making him the sixth-highest-paid safety in the NFL in 2026.

Holland’s contract was structured so that he would make less in the first year, with a massive jump in the second year and a minimal jump in the third, bringing his cap number up from $7,747,843 in 2025 to $18,508,432 this year.

So long as he’s healthy, Holland is a virtual lock to make the Giants roster in 2026, not only because his talent warrants it, but also due to his massive dead cap penalty.

If the Giants were to cut Holland this summer, they would create just $511,765 of cap space while incurring a dead cap penalty of $17,996,666.

The one way that the Giants would be able to part ways with Holland if they wanted to this summer would be via trade, where they would create $13,411,765 of space with a dead cap penalty of $5,096,666. That is not expected to happen, though.

2026 Preview

Wilson, as defensive coordinator with the Tennessee Titans, did a good job of utilizing Amani Hooker all over the secondary as both a deep safety and in the box, depending on the opposing offense’s personnel and tendencies.

Now with the Giants, don’t be surprised if Wilson deploys Holland similarly to how Hooker was used, though Holland will likely be required to play more as a deep safety given that Nubin will likely be more of a box safety, playing more in the box.

Coverage-wise, Wilson has been versatile throughout his play-calling career, and that shouldn’t change with the Giants.

Dating back to his college days, Holland has thrived in defenses that let him play multiple zone coverages, which let him roam the field with his eyes on the quarterback.

Following a year where he had less ball production than any other year in his career, he should benefit from playing behind this Giants pass-rush.

As a leader, he’s going to need to take on a larger role now that he’s in year two with the organization, and with both Okereke and Dexter Lawrence no longer on the team, someone has to fill that role.

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