Xavier McKinney believes Quay Walker will be the best linebacker in the NFL

Green Bay’s first-team All-Pro has called his shot

Green Bay Packers first-team All-Pro safety Xavier McKinney was asked by Ari Meirov of the NFL Spotlight podcast which player McKinney believed should be on the radar of NFL fans moving forward. His response? Former first-round pick linebacker Quay Walker, who has had his ups and downs in Green Bay but played much better in the second half of the 2024 season than previously in his career.

Below is McKinney’s full response:

“I’m gonna say Quay. Quay Walker. I think he’s a hell of a linebacker, and I think he does a lot of good things for our team. I think he’s one of the best linebackers in the league. He can do a lot. There’s a lot of things he can do that a lot of linebackers cannot do. I think he’s going to continue to keep getting better. I think he’s going to continue to grow as a player. He’s going to be the best linebacker in the league. You can mark that. You can write that down.”

In his end-of-year press conference, Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst stated that he wanted Walker to be around the franchise long-term. The big question now is whether or not the end of Walker’s 2024 campaign is worth picking up the linebacker’s fifth-year option, which is coming up.

Walker will be under contract with the Packers in 2025 no matter what, as he’s entering the final year of his four-year rookie contract, but Green Bay needs to decide to pick up or decline Walker’s fifth-year option for 2026 this offseason. According to Over the Cap, the cost to keep Walker for that extra season will be $16 million, based on the playing time escalators. The money is fully guaranteed and the calculations are based on rigid position buckets, meaning that 3-4 outside linebackers — edge rushers — are treated the same as any off-ball linebackers by the process. The edge rushers being included in the calculation is why the cost to keep an off-ball linebacker, like Walker, has ballooned so much.

Green Bay also has another first-round pick, defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt, to make a fifth-year option decision on, too. Wyatt was picked six selections after Walker in the 2022 draft and would make the basic $13.1 million figure if his option is picked up. Unlike Walker, Wyatt did not receive a playing time escalator, which only kicks in if a player meets one of the following criteria:

1. 75 percent or greater snaps in two of their first three seasons
2. an average of 75 percent of greater snaps over all three seasons
3. 50 percent or greater snaps played over all three seasons

Wyatt has never played more than 50 percent of the team’s defensive snaps in a single season, so he wasn’t particularly close to hitting a playing time escalator.