Packers agree to a contract with safety Xavier McKinney in free agency
The Green Bay Packers have gone out of their natural modus operandi to get a big-time free agent. On Monday, the Packers reached an agreement with former New York Giants safety Xavier McKinney. The deal can't be signed or become official until Wednesday, when the new league year begins. It's expected to be a four-year, […]
The Green Bay Packers have gone out of their natural modus operandi to get a big-time free agent. On Monday, the Packers reached an agreement with former New York Giants safety Xavier McKinney. The deal can't be signed or become official until Wednesday, when the new league year begins. It's expected to be a four-year, $68 million contract, a $17 million yearly average.
That happens right after the Giants weren't willing to place a transition or franchise tag on McKinney.
McKinney was a second-round pick by the Giants in 2020. He's coming off what is by far his best season in the NFL, with an 87.8 PFF grade on defense, including 89.1 in tackling and 91.2 in coverage. His previous best grade was 75.4 in 2021.
Safety was the biggest hole on the Packers roster, because three options of the 2023 roster are slated to hit free agency: Darnell Savage, Jonathan Owens, and Rudy Ford.
With that, the only players on the roster at the position are last year's seventh-round pick Anthony Johnson Jr., former undrafted player Benny Sapp III, special teamer Zayne Anderson, and Tyler Coyle, who signed a futures deal with the Packers after the season.
When asked earlier this year what he valued in safeties, general manager Brian Gutekunst mentioned versatility.
“I’m particular that those guys are all interchangeable,” Gutekunst said. “I think that’s what we’re looking for. I think that really helps your defense from A, being able to be versatile, to just be multiple and flexible so teams can’t get a bead on what you’re doing. The other thing is, as you guys know, particularly defensive backs, you do have a lot of injuries with defensive backs in this league. So guys got to be able to be versatile and do a number of things because you just don’t know what lineup you’re gonna throw out there each week, so in a perfect world, quite frankly, for me, between the two safeties and the nickel, those three guys almost need to be interchangeable completely.”
And McKinney is, in fact, pretty versatile. Last season, he played 464 snaps at free safety, 388 snaps in the box, 167 in the slot, 82 near the line of scrimmage, and 27 as an outside cornerback.
The move to add Xavier McKinney doesn’t mean the Packers are done. Over the weekend, it has been mentioned by multiple reporters that Green Bay could explore different tiers of free agent safeties to fill out the roster.
Spending spree
McKinney is the second big addition for the Packers in free agency. Hours earlier, the team agree to sign running back Josh Jacobs. However, the team decided to release Aaron Jones as a corresponding move.
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