Xavier McKinney Green Bay Packers
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Xavier McKinney #29 of the Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers head into the NFL offseason trying to shake what was a disappointing end to the 2025 campaign, losing the last five games of the season, including two losses to the arch-rival Chicago Bears, one of which was in the NFL playoffs.
The storied franchise needs to make some changes this offseason if the team wants to keep up with the Bears in the NFC North, meaning longtime general manager Brian Gutekunst will have his work cut out for him over the next few months.
Packers Restructure Xavier McKinney’s Contract
Brian Gutekunst Green Bay Packers
GettyGreen Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst
On Thursday, the Packers made a move to give the team more cap space ahead of NFL free agency, which gets underway on March 11.
According to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, Green Bay has restructured the contract of two-time All-Pro safety Xavier McKinney.
Jeremy Fowler
Packers are restructuring safety Xavier McKinney’s contract for cap space, per source. Will convert his salary ($4.25M) to a bonus.
“Packers are restructuring safety Xavier McKinney’s contract for cap space, per source,” Fowler wrote. “Will convert his salary ($4.25M) to a bonus.”
McKinney is coming off another strong season with the Packers, earning All-Pro honors for the second straight season. He finished with two interceptions, 10 passes defended, a forced fumble and 54 solo tackles.
Packers Never Considered Trading Star RB Josh Jacobs
Josh Jacobs Green Bay Packers
GettyJosh Jacobs #8 of the Green Bay Packers
After seeing his numbers dip a bit during the 2025 NFL season, there was speculation brewing heading into the offseason that the Packers’ brass would consider trading veteran star running back Josh Jacobs.
Apparently, Gutekunst and company never considered moving Jacobs, according to Jason La Confora of Sports Boom.
Despite media speculation to the contrary, the Green Bay Packers never considered trading or releasing star running back Josh Jacobs, according to league sources, and in fact prioritized building their offseason around the influential player.
Gutekunst had some strong praise for Jacobs when asked about the team’s star running back, as he believes the veteran running back is the “leader” of the offense, which is telling in terms of how much the Packers value the one-time All-Pro, via La Confora.
“He’s the leader of that offense, and everybody knows it,” said one team source. “Josh wasn’t going anywhere.”
With Jacobs’ immediate future with the Packers seemingly secure, it’ll be interesting to see what the Packers’ brass does during the rest of the offseason to upgrade the roster on both sides of the football, especially considering the team’s tough salary cap situation, which they addressed with McKinney’s restructured deal.
Reports swirled in recent weeks about the team potentially being able to move on from Jacobs, 28, given the accumulation of hits and Green Bay’s challenging salary-cap situation.
The pressure is on in Green Bay, with the Bears being a team on the rise under head coach Ben Johnson, and the division rivals, Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings, are always a threat to get back on track in 2026, given the talent on both teams’ rosters.
Only time will tell which moves are made in Green Bay and whether those moves thrust the storied franchise back into the NFC title-contending conversation.