The Green Bay Packers have a massive need for the safety position in the 2024 NFL offseason and Xavier McKinney is a name that hit the free agent market on Tuesday. The New York Giants decided not to give him the franchise tag or the transition tag.
With McKinney hitting the free agent market, it left a lot of New York Giants questioning what general manager Joe Schoen is doing after he decided not to give running back Saquon Barkley another franchise tag earlier in the day. Green Bay had a couple of safeties that were on the roster last season that are now free agents and they probably don’t plan on re-signing them.
Last season on the Giants, he recorded 116 tackles, 0.5 sacks, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries, three interceptions, and 11 pass deflections. The New York Giants fanbase knows how important he was to that defense over the past few seasons. He is only 25 years old and was a second-round selection (36th overall) in the 2020 NFL Draft out of Alabama.
If the Giants were to lose him in NFL free agency, then they would have to try and find another starting safety. It is possible that they don’t want to pay what he is asking for also. It could be the Green Bay Packers gain.
Green Bay Packers Beat Writer Matt Schneidman Thinks that They Need To Be Aggressive and Sign Xavier McKinney
There are times when people do not like to go outside their comfort zone and that is very understandable. Green Bay loves it when they draft and develop their own free agents rather than signing them in NFL free agency.
General manager Brian Gutekunst doesn’t get talented players on the market that often. Xavier McKinney feels like an exception to the rule here. McKinney is someone on the defensive side of the football that Green Bay needs.
The Packers need a playmaker on that side of the ball. The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman believes that they need to make a push for Xavier McKinney by writing:
“The Packers’ top three safeties from last season — Darnell Savage Jr., Jonathan Owens and Rudy Ford — are all set to be unrestricted free agents. McKinney is positioned to be the best safety on the market after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers tagged Antoine Winfield Jr. The position is arguably Green Bay’s biggest need this offseason as it enters Year 1 under defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, who is keen on play-making post safeties who roam the deep middle of the field. McKinney had three interceptions, 11 passes defensed, a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries while starting all 17 games for the New York Giants last season. Derrick Ansley, 42, was the defensive backs coach at Alabama, where he was the lead recruiter for McKinney, who played for the Crimson Tide. What does Ansley do now? He’s the Packers’ new defensive pass game coordinator.”
That is an interesting connection that can not be ignored. Green Bay feels like they have a young football team that has a Super Bowl window that is about to open soon. It has been quite some time since they had a talented safety on the back end like that.
Nick Collins and Charles Woodson are two of the names that come to mind for the Packers franchise. Signing Xavier McKinney to this football team would be a grand slam for the organization.
