The Miami Dolphins made another addition to their safety room Tuesday, agreeing to a contract with Ashtyn Davis formerly of the New York Jets, Jordan Schultz of FOX Sports reported.
Davis’ contract is for $2.5 million with incentives that can make it $3 million. He’ll join Ifeatu Melifonwu, who the Dolphins signed to a one-year, $4 million deal, in the team’s safety room.
The Dolphins needed to add multiple safeties since Jevon Holland agreed to a deal with the New York Giants, and Jordan Poyer is an impending unrestricted free agent.
The Jets selected Davis in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft out of California, where he was coached by former Dolphins secondary coach Gerald Alexander. Davis quickly became a contributor on the Jets’ defense. He appeared in 59 games across five seasons in New York, making 22 starts.
Davis was a productive player, too. He has 175 total tackles, four forced fumbles, and four fumble recoveries in his career. However, Davis is best known for his ball skills, as he recorded eight interceptions and 15 pass breakups with the Jets. On those eight interceptions, Davis recorded 116 return yards.
Davis had two picks when the Jets defeated the Dolphins, 32-20, in the 2024 season finale.
HOW DAVIS FITS IN THE DOLPHINS DEFENSE
Despite that production, Davis was largely getting phased out of the Jets’ defense. Davis played just 19 and 26 percent of the snaps on defense in 2023 and 2024, respectively. That was actually a significant increase on the 1 percent of snaps he played on defense in 2022.
Davis became more of a special teams player for the Jets. He had more than 70 percent of his snaps on special teams in every season from 2022 through 2024. Davis only has two career kick returns, so he was mostly used on punt and kick coverage.
Davis makes a lot of sense for the Dolphins. He’s more a free safety who should be tasked with covering zones in the deep part of the field. This pairs nicely with Melifonwu, who is more of a strong safety.
Although Holland had a down year in 2024, finding someone to replace what he did downfield will be an essential part of the Dolphins’ offseason. Given Davis’ recent move to mostly playing special teams, the Dolphins might not be done adding to the backend of its defense.
Davis profiles as the perfect backup safety. He was productive in limited reps with the Jets and can contribute on special teams, making it easy to justify using a game-day roster spot on him.
The Dolphins could view him as a starting free safety, too. Although, that would be a lot more risky than just using him as a versatile depth piece.
DOLPHINS FREE AGENT SCORECARD
as of 7:30 p.m. Tuesday
Agreed to terms
QB Zach Wilson (Denver)
G James Daniels (Pittsburgh)
OL Larry Borom (Chicago)
S Ifeatu Melifonwu (Detroit)
WR Nick Westbrook-Ikhine (Tennessee)
S Ashtyn Davis (N.Y. Jets)
