Packers’ Xavier McKinney overshadowed Kaivon Thibodeau after the All-Pro nod

After the 2024 regular season. Green Bay Packers safety Xavier McKinney had two career firsts after only a year removed from the New York Giants. Once McKinney joined the Packers in free agency, he was invited to the Pro Bowl and earned an All-Pro nod in his first year out of the Giants. Follow McKinney’s Instagram story calling out a former teammate Kaivon Thibodeauthere seems to be bad blood between the two.

“To think he ever thought he was better than me and for them to try to push it…lol,” McKinney wrote on his NSFV Instagram story. “Oh and someone tell my friend to jump off the gossiping Melo Podcast and get back on his plane.” Yes, there is always smoke … remember that! Write it down and take a picture. IDGAF!”

Now, in McKinney’s four seasons with the Giants, he never received a Pro Bowl invitation, nor was he ever named to the All-Pro roster.

However, just a year removed from John Mara and the Giants, McKinney accomplished both in his first season with the Packers.

And in his Instagram post, he and Thibodeau seemed to have some sort of rivalry while they were teammates with the Giants.

Although nothing was ever confirmed about their relationship while they were teammates, some speculated that they did not get along. However, McKinney seemingly reaffirmed his stance on Thibodeauk, telling him to stay off Carmelo Anthony’s podcast and focus on getting better at football.

McKinney’s Instagram post is referenced last January when Thibodeau joined 19:00 in Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony let’s talk about the NFL in general. In that interview, Thibodeau mentioned that he plays one of the toughest positions in the NFL, possibly getting on the nerves of his former defensive teammate.

“I got the hardest and easiest position in the NFL,” Thibodeau said nearly a year ago. “It’s the hardest because I’m going against the second — well, I wouldn’t call them second-string because they’re really not the second-string — but when you talk about size, strength, power output, like when you talk about the physics of it, the offensive lineman is the most dangerous. Other than sure going down at full speed, they talk about physically hitting them or pressuring them every play, it’s different.

“I weigh 250 pounds. The (offensive lineman) average is 320. So you’re just talking about the mindset I have to have, or like Lawrence Taylor, or all these guys who are relentless on defense, like, io, there’s no substitute. You play 70 consecutive shots.”

And while McKinney had the best years of his career with the Packers in 2024, his season isn’t over as Green Bay looks to pull off an upset against Philadelphia Eagles in the Wild Card round.

That said, the Packers safety could bring some extra juice on Sunday, following a message from the Green Bay safety on Instagram.