Packers S Xavier McKinney: It’s the Ones That Got Away for No. 7 Player in 2026

Packers On SI is counting down the Green Bay Packers’ top 25 players for the 2026 season. This series continues with our No. 7 player, Xavier McKinney.

Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst doesn’t take too many high-profile swings into free agency. He did with Xavier McKinney in 2024 and hit a grand slam.

McKinney went from a very good player with the Giants to an elite player with the Packers. He had eight interceptions in 2024 to earn first-team All-Pro. Last year, he had only two interceptions but was so good at everything else that he was voted second-team All-Pro. He topped 100 tackles and had his fourth season of 10-plus passes defensed.

Entering his third season on the team and seventh season in the NFL, McKinney will lead the Packers on the field and in the locker room.

Why Xavier McKinney Is So Important

McKinney means everything to the Packers’ defense. In his two seasons with the team, he has 10 of its 24 interceptions. He’s in a league of his own from that perspective. Here are the interception totals by all the other members of Green Bay’s current secondary.

Keisean Nixon: 4 (one in each of his four seasons with the team).

Evan Williams: 4 (one as a rookie in 2024, three in 2025).

Carrington Valentine: 2 (both in 2024).

Benjamin St-Juste: 2 (in five seasons; one for the Commanders in 2003 and the Chargers in 2025).

Javon Bullard: 0 (in two seasons).

That’s right. Among the defensive backs, McKinney has 10 interceptions in two seasons with the team. Everybody else has 12 in their careers.

It’s not just the ball production. McKinney under former coordinator Jeff Hafley was practically a coach on the field. He made it his responsibility to know as much of the defensive game plan as possible before the rest of the team arrived for the practice week.

“It’s been good,” McKinney said of the transition to new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon. “I think we all thus far enjoyed playing in this scheme. I think it’s going to show the people watching and for us, guys that can play in different spots and really showcase their skills.

“Obviously, we got a lot of players on the defensive side, ball guys, people that can change a game. I think this scheme is perfect for our personnel.”

Green Bay Packers safety Xavier McKinney (29) intercepts a pass by Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford in 2024. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

Xavier McKinney’s Strengths and Weaknesses

There isn’t a flaw in McKinney’s game, making him worth every penny of the four-year, $77 million contract he signed in free agency.

He not only is a premier playmaker and leader, but he’s one of the best tacklers at the position. Last season, 72 safeties played at least 500 snaps. McKinney had the third-lowest missed-tackle percentage. In 2024, he was sixth.

Whether it’s making quarterbacks pay for testing him or being in the right position so a quarterback doesn’t bother, a safety has to eliminate big plays. Over the last two seasons, only the Bills allowed fewer 40-yard pass plays than the Packers.

When asked what impressed him from afar about Green Bay’s defense, Gannon said “they got a lot of talent.” McKinney was the one player he pointed to by name.

“McKinney, you think he’s been playing forever because he’s such a high performing vet but he’s still pretty young,” Gannon said at the start of the offseason program.

What is the weakness in McKinney’s game? It’s not really a weakness but it was a shortcoming last season: Sports Info Solutions charged him with four dropped interceptions, tied for the most in the league. He’s forced only three fumbles in six seasons.

Green Bay Packers safety Xavier McKinney (29) throws a football during warmups at OTAs. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

What Happens If Xavier McKinney Gets Hurt

With McKinney and Williams, the Packers have one of the best safety tandems in the NFL. Bullard has been mostly anchored in the slot.

If McKinney were to be out of the lineup, the Packers probably would go with Williams and Bullard as the safeties in the base defense. In passing situations, the team probably would move Bullard back into the slot and insert Kitan Oladapo at safety. The team did not use Keisean Nixon or Brandon Cisse in the slot during the offseason practices.

Why We Ranked Xavier McKinney Here

Cap-wise, McKinney is a bargain for this season because of a restructured contract that reduced his base salary to the league minimum and turned an $8.5 million roster bonus into a signing bonus. His cap number for the upcoming season is about $9.86 million; it is scheduled to soar past $24.8 million for 2027 with a base salary of $14.65 million. The best way to deal with it might be a contract extension.

To say that McKinney would be a bargain at twice the price would be an overstatement. If he gets back to intercepting passes, though, that would be true because he’s such a brilliant all-around player on the field and in the locker room.

“Still the same,” he said of his leadership. “Obviously, there’s things I learned too about being a leader. I learn stuff every year. I learn something new every year. I also have got to push myself a little harder to be a better leader every year. It’s not just going to be the same leadership that I’ve had every other year.

“I might be dealing with different people. I might got to lead in a different way. I might got to present it and approach it in a different way. For me, it’s always about learning and figuring out how I can be the best leader for the people that I have around me.”

Every year, I rank every player on the Packers roster based on talent, importance, salary etc. I will again this year, too.

For now, let's cut right to the chase. Here is a quick-hitting look at the 2⃣5⃣ most important players for the 2026 season.⬇️https://t.co/ezDAkl7vmd
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) June 17, 2026

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