The 49ers Should Sign Free Agent Safety Jevon Holland

Holland should be the 49ers' top target in free agency. Once they land him, they can focus on improving their front seven in the draft.
Oct 27, 2024; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Miami Dolphins safety Jevon Holland (8) enters the field before the game against the Arizona Cardinals at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
Oct 27, 2024; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Miami Dolphins safety Jevon Holland (8) enters the field before the game against the Arizona Cardinals at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
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The 49ers have more than $50 million in cap space this year and need to sign someone significant to catch up to the best teams in the NFC.

They recently hired Robert Saleh as their defensive coordinator, and his assistant coaches have been telling people at the East-West Shrine Game practices that the 49ers need to get faster, particularly in the secondary, according to Tony Pauline.

If that's the case, the 49ers should sign Miami Dolphins free safety Jevon Holland who will be a free agent when the new league year starts on March 12.

Holland is a former second-round pick who went to Bishop O'Dowd High School in Oakland, so he has ties to the Bay Area. And he's fast. He ran a 4.47 at his Pro Day in 2021. He instantly would be the 49ers' fastest safety.

Plus Holland would give the 49ers a defensive back who can cover the top tight ends in the NFL man to man. The 49ers haven't had a defensive back who can do that since Jimmie Ward, who followed DeMeco Ryans to the Texans two years ago. Ward was the 49ers' starting free safety when Saleh was the defensive coordinator from 2017 to 2020.

Holland would bring the 49ers a similar skill set as Ward, and he would be cheaper than a free agent cornerback or pass rusher. Safeties simply make less money, plus Holland hasn't been to a Pro Bowl yet in his career. So he probably wouldn't cost the 49ers more than they could afford.

Holland should be the 49ers' top target in free agency. Once they land him, they can focus on improving their front seven in the draft.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.