Just a few years ago, the Green Bay Packers were in a precarious spot at safety, searching for answers at one of the roster’s weakest positions. Today, the situation couldn’t be more different. The position has become one of the team’s biggest strengths, and it may also be their best safety room in the last decade.
I’ll start with Xavier McKinney. In his first two seasons with the Green Bay Packers, he earned two Pro Bowl selections and two All-Pro honors. Moreover, he was voted No. 30 on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2025 list and will be on it again this year.
“One of the top safeties in the game, a guy who can be a game-changing type player,” Brian Gutekunst said of McKinney in 2024. “He really fits a little bit of the criteria we’re looking for in a free agent – not only as a player but as a leader back there.”
A month later, the Packers added Javon Bullard and Evan Williams in the draft. Bullard spent most of his rookie season moving between the slot and deep safety, dealing with some expected ups and downs in coverage.
In 2025, he settled into the slot for most of the season and finished the year playing his best football. I think that’s where he should stay. Bullard is a better player when he’s closer to the line of scrimmage. Keeping him there also allows Williams, who I’ll get to next, to handle the deep safety responsibilities.
Williams is simply a fun player to watch. He is one of the most instinctive defensive backs the Packers have had in a long time. Before injuries slowed him down, he was playing at a Defensive Rookie of the Year-caliber level in 2024, and he has continued to show why the Packers have so much confidence in him as their long-term deep safety.
“He’s always been a pretty aware player,” LaFleur said regarding Williams in 2025. “He’s got great instincts, but now just his knowledge of what we’re trying to get accomplished, and then his ability to disguise and hold things, and then on the snap, trigger. … The physicality that he’s brought to our defense has been pretty impressive.”
The 2024 fourth-round pick then took a major step forward in his second season, playing at an All-Pro level. He appeared in 16 games, recorded 88 total tackles, and led the team with three interceptions. He also finished with 23 stops, a tackle that resulted in a failure for the offense, which ranked second among Packers defensive backs, trailing only Javon Bullard.
So, when you look at these three players together, there really isn’t much they can’t do. All of them can play near the line of scrimmage, line up in the box, or handle deep coverage. Green Bay will soon have a good problem to solve, though.
Evan Williams and Javon Bullard will enter the final year of their rookie contracts next season. Meanwhile, Xavier McKinney will enter the final year of his current deal. That said, I would be surprised if McKinney actually plays under the final year of his contract,
The safety position hasn’t been this strong in Titletown since the mid-2010s, when the Packers had Morgan Burnett, Micah Hyde, and a young Ha Ha Clinton-Dix. I think this current group is even more talented. However, they’ll need to play at a high level to help make up for the impact Micah Parsons‘ absence will have on the front seven. Still, they are more than capable of holding their own on the back end of the defense.
