If Miami Dolphins safety Jevon Holland’s reaction on Instagram is any indication, he is thrilled that safety Marcus Maye decided to sign with the Dolphins despite the fact that other NFL teams were interested in him as well.
Maye has played seven seasons in the NFL with two teams, the New Orleans Saints and New York Jets. He spent the 2022 and 2023 seasons in New Orleans after spending the first five years of his pro career with New York.
The 31-year-old wasn’t consistently out on the field in his final season with the Saints, considering he appeared in only seven of the team’s 17 regular-season contests. But he still finished with 37 combined tackles, 27 solo tackles, 10 assists on tackles, three tackles for loss and two interceptions.
Perhaps his best performance of the 2023 regular season came in New Orleans’ first game of the season against the Tennessee Titans back on Sept. 10 of last year. He finished with six combined tackles and an interception in a game the Saints won by a score of 16-15.
Holland — now Maye’s teammate — has established himself as one of Miami’s most talented defensive players over his first three seasons in the pros.
The No. 36 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, Holland started all 12 of the games he played in for the Dolphins during the 2023 regular season and racked up 74 combined tackles, 22 assists on tackles, three forced fumbles, one interception and three tackles for loss.
But Holland was sidelined for Miami’s playoff loss to the Kansas City Chiefs earlier this year. His absence was felt against Patrick Mahomes and company, considering the Dolphins’ defense allowed the Chiefs to score 26 points, while the Dolphins mustered only seven as a team.
Hopefully Maye will be able to stay on the field for much of his inaugural season as a member of the Dolphins franchise and help Miami become a better defensive team than it was during the 2023 campaign, when Vic Fangio was the squad’s defensive coordinator.