After the team’s success in 2022, the New York Giants handed out some big long-term deals this offseason. Daniel Jones, Dexter Lawrence, and Andrew Thomas were all paid handsomely by New York. The Giants still have some young players that need to be signed to contract extensions, but that likely won’t happen anytime soon. 

One of those players is safety Xavier McKinney, heading into his fourth NFL season. According to GM Joe Schoen, the team will wait until after the season to re-sign McKinney. He’s someone the Giants think highly of, but they just don’t have the cap space to sign him right now. The 24-year-old has a chance to go out and prove it this season and earn himself a payday like his teammates got this offseason.

Xavier McKinney is an important part of the secondary for DC Wink Martindale

It doesn’t make salary-cap savings sense for #Giants to extend Xavier McKinney. So Joe Schoen plans to let him play out his walk year.

‘If we can get something done down the road, he’s somebody we’d like to have here.” https://t.co/UodRHKwwiI #NYGiants

— Ryan Dunleavy (@rydunleavy) August 15, 2023

In the 2020 NFL Draft, the New York Giants drafted Xavier McKinney out of Alabama in the second round. His best season so far came in his 2021 campaign with New York. He played in all 17 games that season and had five interceptions and one defensive touchdown. On top of that, he had 10 pass deflections and 93 combined tackles.

Recently, GM Joe Schoen went on WFAN’s Evan & Tiki radio show. He mentioned that the Giants are not negotiating a contract extension with Xavier McKinney right now. Schoen said that’s something the Giants will look to do at the end of the season. McKinney is an important part of the Giants’ defense and Schoen recognized that. They want to have him back long-term, but simply just don’t have the money right now.

Xavier McKinney opens up about his ATV accident:@EvanRobertsWFAN @EvanandTikiWFAN @TikiBarber pic.twitter.com/tJ7HHSeW7a

— WFAN Sports Radio (@WFAN660) August 15, 2023

This news had little to no effect on Xavier McKinney and he’s going to continue playing his role this season. He mentioned how the teams’ success is bigger than his contract negotiation. McKinney said he’s focused on the team and making them better. When healthy, he’s a key contributor for the Giants.

In his rookie season, McKinney missed the majority of the year and played in only six games. Last season, he was in an ATV accident where he injured his hand and missed significant time. He played and started in nine games in 2022. All that is behind him heading into 2023 and the Giants are ready for McKinney to be a leader on their defense.