Hall of Famer LeRoy Butler recognizes exceptional safety play when he sees it. After all, Butler earned a Gold Jacket as a member of the 2022 Pro Football Hall of Fame class after establishing himself as one of the most feared and versatile safeties of his generation during a spectacular 12-year career with the Green Bay Packers. Butler, on the other hand, believes that new Packers safety Xavier McKinney has the potential not only to win the MVP award this season, but also to possess the best qualities of any player to play the position in TitleTown.
“What he’s meant to this organization is someone who is dependable,” Butler stated during a recent appearance on my Between The Hashmarks Podcast. “But Darren Sharper played with me…” I’m just chatting in my Packers gear… Darren Sharper had the best range I’ve ever seen; he could dash across the field, intercept the ball, or induce a fumble.
“Eugene Robinson had the best instincts I’ve ever seen; from reading tendencies to understanding what they were doing in various formations, Eugene Robinson was the sharpest safety to ever play the game. “X is both of those guys.” McKinney has been the epitome of an instant impact player, becoming the only player since the AFL-NFL merger to intercept five passes in his first five games after signing with a new team in the offseason. “He has great instincts back there,” an NFL general manager told me about McKinney on Sunday night. “With ball talents to match. He’s having a fantastic year so far.” Leroy Butler. Grateful Green Bay Packers can Sign Xavier McKinney.
One team’s costly luxury item becomes another team’s keystone. That’s the obvious takeaway when general manager Joe Schoen let the New York Giants’ second-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft walk out the door as a free agency this spring. Butler, on the other hand, is glad that Brian Gutekunst and the Packers were able to sign McKinney to a lucrative four-year contract worth $67 million as the backstop and cornerstone of new coordinator Jeff Hafley’s secondary. “I just want to give this bottle of Hall of Fame Leap Vodka to the Giants,” Butler said with a smile. “We’ll focus on Xavier for now, but I could also include Saquon Barkley…”
Thanks for making him available. Thank you for not signing him to a long-term contract and for allowing the Packers to sign a safety in his prime. “We are beyond happy because X is unique. He is 25 years old, yet he is a grown man in a young guy’s physique. He’s a leader who the Packers needed. We haven’t had a better safety in Green Bay since Nick Collins. I know Charles Woodson and I played high-level safety, but this is different.”
In five games with the Packers, McKinney has five interceptions, six pass breakups, a fumble recovery, and 20 total tackles. “Xavier has a significant impact,” Butler says. “There weren’t many people in Green Bay who were aware of him when [GM] Brian Gutekunst brought him in and gave him the highest-paid safety at the time. There were the world’s Minkah Fitzpatricks and Budda Bakers; these were the top safeties. “But, wait, wait, there’s another guy who folks are missing, and we found him. If it weren’t for McKinney, the Packers would definitely be 1-4.”
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