You could think that Xavier McKinney doesn’t have a good relationship with Kerby Joseph based on some social media interaction and the NFC North rivalry between the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions. But there are aspects more relevant for McKinney and how he perceives the fellow First-Team All-Pro safety.
The value of the position is something McKinney really values, and how they performed in 2024 helped create a new perception around it.
Last year, the New York Giants allowed McKinney to walk in free agency because he doesn’t play a premium position. Well, the Packers happily paid him $16.75 million per season.
“It ain’t no beef. It’s actually funny, just looking at the year and kinda seeing what the safety position has done this past year. From what they were trying to say about the safety position, they were basically trying to devalue us,” McKinney told Ari Meirov on the “NFL Spotlight” podcast. “Before the season, they’d taken all of the best safeties and making them free agents. Everybody getting cut. It’s the same thing as the running back position, you tryna make it seem like safeties, running backs aren’t valuable to this game.”
McKinney frequently advocates for the value of his position to the game. The list of candidates for the Defensive Player of the Year Award has three edge defenders (Myles Garrett, Trey Hendrickson, TJ Watt), a cornerback (Patick Surtain II), and an off-ball linebacker (Zack Baun). The Packers’ All-Pro went on social media to express his opinion about the lack of safeties there.
“I think we did a helluva job this year of showing the league and showing the world, like, this position is important,” McKinney added. “And if you have a good one, you will see how important it really is. I feel like this year we helped the game, we’ve helped the safeties that are coming up try to go get themselves a bag.”
The highest-paid safety in the NFL is Antoine Winfield Jr., making an average of $21.025 million per season, the 69th in the entire league. McKinney, one of the best players on the Packers in 2024, is the 133rd highest-paid player in football, fifth among safeties.
