New Xavier McKinney post shows Giants will have to break the bank to keep him

You think Saquon Barkley is the only tough decision NY Giants general manager Joe Schoen has for this offseason? Nope. One of the biggest takeaways from the brutal 2023 campaign was the spectacular play of star defensive back Xavier McKinney.

Straight up, McKinney looked like one of the best safeties in the game. Now, No. 29 is ready to be paid as such. McKinney's contract is up with the G-Men and he's headed towards free agency. The Giants have the option to place the franchise tag on him, but he doesn't want that at all. Instead, McKinney is ready for the Giants, or someone else, to throw a bag his way:

NY Giants safety Xavier McKinney is ready for a massive contract to come his way

In an interview with the New York Post's Mark Cannizzaro earlier this week, McKinney didn't mince words when talking about how he played this year. The stud DB finished with 116 total tackles and three interceptions - two of those INTs came in the season-ending win over Philly.

"“I don’t think nobody’s on my level from the standpoint of being able to do every single thing on the back end. I think a lot of safeties have certain things that they’re good at and a lot of stuff they’re not good at. But with me, if you just look at my whole game and how I am, I’m able to do everything at a high level and be very productive doing it.

I’m the most complete safety out there, and it’s about time for some respect to that, too. So, I definitely think I am the best safety in this league and I’ll continue to prove that."

- McKinney told Cannizzaro

That's quite the statement from McKinney and one that Schoen surely is taking note of. McKinney was a force for Wink Martindale's defense, but if he's looking for a massive deal, it's unknown if the Giants will be willing to meet his demands.

McKinney just played the final year of his rookie contract, one that paid him $8.4 million. He's earned himself a head-turning raise, but again, no one knows if Schoen will give him what he wants. There's the tag option, but might NY save that for Barkley again? There are a lot of questions to be answered, but McKinney has made it clear that he won't be playing the 2024 campaign on any kind of a discount.