The Green Bay Packers made one of the best moves this offseason by signing safety Xavier McKinney in NFL free agency. McKinney started his NFL career with the New York Giants. He had a great year last season with New York by recording 116 tackles, 0.5 sacks, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries, three interceptions, and 11 pass deflections.
He is just 25 years old and is entering the prime of his NFL career. This was one of the major moves that the Packers made to its defense to make it better for next season. In the final game with the New York Giants a season ago, he recorded six tackles and two interceptions against the Philadelphia Eagles and it caught the attention of head coach Matt LaFleur.
Green Bay had seven interceptions last season. Only the Tenenssee Titans had fewer interceptions than Green Bay did a season ago. Grabbing McKinney in free agency was honestly a home run for the Packers franchise.
Head Coach Matt LaFleur Knows the Importance Of Bringing In a Talent Like Xavier McKinney For the Green Bay Packers
The safety position is a position that is being overhauled this offseason by the Packers. They can very well bring in another safety via free agency and through the NFL Draft to help out Xavier McKinney. Head coach Matt LaFleur spoke to the media about him while attending the NFL’s annual meeting and said:
“You rely on the safety for so many things. First of all, just the communication in the back end is absolutely critical, making sure we get all 11 on the same page. And that’s usually the last line of defense. You get past the safety, there’s nobody left. And I love just his ability to make plays on the ball. You’ve seen it over the course of his career, but in particular the two plays that stick out to me were in the Philly game where he makes an unbelievable interception on the sidelines, and then the very next (Eagles) play, they try to run a screen and he dissects the screen and jumps in front, picks off the ball — like back-to-back plays, two interceptions. Anytime you have a guy that can take the ball away, that’s what you’re looking for in all your players, especially on the defensive side of the ball.”
McKinney is just entering his prime in the NFL. He has a chance to be great with the Packers’ defense for the next four seasons. A lot of New York Giants fans were not thrilled when he left in free agency, but the Giants did not want to pay him what the Packers gave him and that was a $67 million contract.
Xavier McKinney will look to be a game-changer on this defense that they are looking for. This was one of general manager Brian Gutekunst’s best free agent moves along with signing his former Alabama Crimson Tide teammate running back Josh Jacobs in the offseason.
