A lot has been made of the situation the Minnesota Vikings find themselves in with regard to the state of their defensive backfield. Minnesota didn’t always get the most consistent play from their defensive backs last season, despite the play of Pro Bowl cornerback Byron Murphy Jr.
What’s more, the Vikings are heading into the 2025 NFL offseason facing the prospect of having only do-it-all defensive back Josh Metellus under contract for next season. Minnesota is going to need to figure out a potentially completely new defensive back field next season. Thankfully, they have plenty of cap space to work with.
What the Vikings are going to do with that cap space remains to be seen, but with limited capital in the NFL Draft, they figure to be active players in the free agent market.
The team at PFF recently began releasing their look at the 2025 NFL free agent class and some potential landing spots for their top free agents, and they’ve listed Minnesota as one of their landing spots for a top-3 free agent, former Miami Dolphins safety Jevon Holland.
Holland was drafted in the second round out of Oregon by the Miami Dolphins in the 2021 NFL Draft and has been a key contributor to their secondary ever since. Holland has played all over the field in the Dolphins’ defensive scheme, coming down with five interceptions, five sacks, and over 300 tackles in his four years with the team.
However, Holland struggled in 2024 and has seemingly fallen out of favor with both the Dolphins’ coaching staff and their fans, making a return to Miami unlikely. While Holland came in as just the 89th out of 170 safeties last season according to PFF, and 109th in coverage, the Vikings may hope a reunion with defensive coordinator Brian Flores could revitalize Holland.
Holland spent his rookie season working with Flores during the latter’s final season as the Dolphins head coach. That season, Holland turned in a defensive PFF grade of 84.7 and a coverage grade of 87.7 (versus just 63.0 and 57.1, respectively, this past season).
Holland ranks as PFF’s third-best potential free agent in this class, and the Vikings likely have the money to land him if they’re looking to make a big splash in free agency. Pairing Holland with a potential return of Camryn Bynum could give the Vikings one of the best safety duos in the league for years to come.