Xavier McKinney Plans to Test Free-agent Market

New York Giants safety Xavier McKinney is about to head into free agency this off-season and has his sights squarely set on landing a lucrative, multiyear deal.

New York Giants safety Xavier McKinney is about to head into free agency this off-season and has his sights set on landing a lucrative, multiyear deal.

Rightfully so. McKinney, who in the three years prior had missed chunks of two of those seasons, not only played every single snap for the Giants this season, but he arguably had his best campaign, setting or matching career highs in pass breakups (11), total tackles (116), tackles for loss (2), and forced fumbles (1).

All of that has given McKinney the confidence to believe that a nice payday awaits him. However, whether that deal will be with the Giants remains to be seen, but the odds of that happening right now appear to be slim.

“I mean, I can’t really — I can tell you, but I can’t really control nothing,” McKinney said after the Giants beat the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2023 regular-season finale Sunday. “It’s a business at the end of the day, so I just got to be where my feet are, be present, and that’s really about it.”

McKinney has made no secret about feeling disrespected by the Giants, this going back to the start of the 2023 season in which he watched teammates like left tackle Andrew Thomas and defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence rewarded with contract extensions before their rookie deals expired. 

When it came to McKinney, general manager Joe Schoen came right out and said there were no plans to extend McKinney before the start of the 2023 season, an action that no doubt stuck in McKinney's craw.

With the 2023 season in the books, McKinney, who thinks of himself as the "most complete safety out there" and who continues to jockey for the respect he feels he deserves, is planning to test the market, he confirmed via his X (formerly known as Twitter) account.