Packers Rookie Safeties Rewrite Position Value in Gannon’s System

GREEN BAY, Wis. — The NFL safety market reset in March when Xavier McKinney signed a four-year, $67 million contract. Seven months later, the Green Bay Packers are getting elite production from two rookies playing beside him on a fraction of the cost.

Javon Bullard, a second-round pick, and Evan Williams, a fourth-round selection, combined for four pass breakups and an interception in Sunday night’s 23-13 victory over Dallas. Bullard’s three pass breakups tied a Packers rookie record for a single game. Williams’ second-quarter interception of Dak Prescott came on a coverage disguise that left the Cowboys quarterback unaware of his presence until the ball was in the air.

“The disguise showing down away from where the quarterback was going to throw the ball, how he… kind of went out of it straight back — you couldn’t tell if he was going to go play a cloud or what coverage he was going to be in,” coach Matt LaFleur said Monday. “Dak never even saw him, I don’t think.”

The play exemplified defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon’s system, which deploys safeties as interchangeable chess pieces rather than fixed deep-center and box roles. McKinney, Bullard and Williams rotate alignments pre-snap, forcing opposing quarterbacks to process multiple coverage possibilities simultaneously.

“Rush and coverage, baby. Rush and coverage,” McKinney said postgame. “When that rush is getting there, then you add the disguise game in there. And then us in the back end just making sure that we’re all tight end on the skies. And ultimately that’s muddying up everything, the picture.”

Prescott completed 34 of 54 passes for 258 yards — a 4.8-yard average that ranked among his career lows. CeeDee Lamb caught nine passes for 70 yards. George Pickens added six for 73. The Cowboys converted 5 of 14 third downs.

Green Bay’s third interception, by rookie cornerback Brandon Cisse, gave the Packers three takeaways. A fourth, by Carrington Valentine, was negated by a roughing-the-passer penalty.

The safety trio’s collective cap hit this season: approximately $18.5 million, with McKinney accounting for $16.2 million of that figure. Bullard and Williams carry cap hits of roughly $1.1 million and $950,000 respectively.

Gannon, hired in February after two seasons as Arizona’s head coach, previously coordinated Philadelphia’s defense during its 2022 Super Bowl run. His scheme prioritizes pre-snap multiplicity and post-snap pattern matching — concepts that theoretically favor veteran players. The immediate contributions from Bullard (Georgia) and Williams (Oregon) suggest the system’s teaching progression accelerates rookie readiness.

“It’s a great call every time, so hats off to him and the staff for being prepared and helping us be prepared for this game,” McKinney said of Gannon.

LaFleur noted the defense has allowed 20.3 points per game through six weeks, with the lone outlier a 34-point performance against Atlanta in Week 4. The Packers (4-2) travel to Detroit on Oct. 25 for a 3:25 p.m. CT kickoff on FOX.