The Dolphins Should Target Jeremy Chinn in Free Agency

Going into the 2025 off-season, the Dolphins have one safety currently under contract for next season.

That is second-year player Patrick McMorris.

Unfortunately for Miami, McMorris only played in six games and made one tackle.

Suffice to say, the Dolphins will need to add substantial talent to the safety room over the next couple of months.

One way to do that is by adding veteran talent in free agency and luckily for the team, there are plenty of young veterans to choose from.

For this exercise, I have the Dolphins signing former Washington Commanders and Carolina Panthers’ safety, Jeremy Chinn.

Chinn, entering his age-27 season, was all over the field for the NFC runner-up Commanders squad, as Chinn played all 17 games and registered 73 solo stops, two sacks, one forced fumble and two interceptions.

He also made a lot of plays in the backfield in 2024, as he ranked among the top-15 safeties in the NFL in stops, sacks and pass rush snaps according to Pro Football Focus.

Compare this to the play of the two presumed safeties who will part with the team this off-season, Jevon Holland and Jordan Poyer, who only generated one forced fumble and one sack and did not intercept a pass during the year.

Chinn would bring much-needed playmaking and stability to the safety spot.

Just now entering his prime, Chinn would be a stalwart in the back-end of a complex defense under defensive coordinator, Anthony Weaver, and would allow for the team to pair a younger safety in the draft alongside Chinn such as Malaki Starks, Lathan Ransom or Xavier Watts.

Chinn also offers versatility defensively as he began his professional career as a linebacker before moving back and playing both strong and free safety.

He can play as a big nickel defender, which would allow the Dolphins to be more flexible in defending both the run and pass in early-down situations.

With a similar trajectory of flexibility for Jalen Ramsey, Miami would have multiple players who can play either safety or corner, both inside and on the boundary.

Miami would also have sure-fire tacklers in both Chinn and Ramsey, something they did not have a season ago.

With the continued development of Kader Kohou, Storm Duck, Ethan Bonner and Cam Smith, along with the addition of another safety to pair alongside Chinn, Weaver would be able to fully trust his secondary to cover adeptly, allowing him to unleash his many blitz packages on opposing teams.

If the Dolphins want a young veteran leader in their lineup, they should do what it takes to add Jeremy Chinn in March.