Giants select Tyler Nubin with second-round NFL draft pick

The Giants certainly liked Xavier McKinney as a player but this front office regime did not believe in opening the vault for a safety.

So McKinney left in free agency and signed a mega-deal with the Packers, and Friday night, the Giants selected his replacement in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft.

The plan is for Tyler Nubin, a three-year starter for Minnesota, to fill the void left by McKinney.

Nubin, considered the best safety in this draft class, was scooped up by the Giants with the No. 47 overall pick.

He has ideal size, range, experience (48 games) and ball-hawking ability — he had five interceptions in 2023.

“I’m an everything player, man,’’ Nubin said not long after the Giants made the pick. “I feel like I can do it all on the field, I like to call myself a Swiss Army knife, I can move around everywhere, I can blitz, I can come down and hit in the box, I can play over the top. Anywhere on the field, I’m comfortable.’’

Nubin was the first safety taken in the draft.

“I was gonna cry my eyes out no matter where I was picked,’’ he said.

It came as no surprise that the Giants filled a hole in their defensive backfield.

That it at first was a safety, and not a cornerback, was interesting, considering the Giants need a starting corner to pair with Deonte Banks.

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The Giants addressed cornerback in the third round, taking cornerback Andru Phillips from Kentucky, although Phillips will start out in the slot, meaning Cor’Dale Flott could end up starting on the outside.

Only three cornerbacks were taken in the first round and they started flying off the board in the second round at pick No. 40, when the Eagles traded up to get Cooper DeJean from Iowa.

At 41, the Saints traded up for Kool-Aid McKinstry (Alabama).

At 42, the Texans made it three straight corners, selecting Kamari Lassiter from Georgia and the Cardinals at No. 43 made it four in a row with Max Melton from Rutgers.

The Giants saw all this and went with a safety. If they liked any of those corners they clearly were not willing to trade up to get one of them.

“There were enough players there we liked,’’ general manager Joe Schoen said “Where we are, we have needs throughout the draft, we were able to get a corner in Round 3.’’

Nubin can now work to start alongside Jason Pinnock and compete with Dane Belton to give the Giants a youthful, and inexpensive back end.

McKinney signed a four-year deal worth $68 million from the Packers. Nubin is expected to get a four-year contract worth a total of $8 million, according to Spotrac.

“Younger and cheaper, yes,’’ Schoen said of Nubin, but otherwise refrained from comparing him to McKinney.

“This young man hasn’t played a snap in the league yet,’’ Schoen said.

This pick was the one the Giants acquired in the trade with the Seahawks that sent defensive tackle Leonard Williams to Seattle.

The Giants traded away their own pick, No. 39, to acquire defensive end Brian Burns from the Panthers.

Nubin said he is “super close’’ with John Michael Schmitz, the former Minnesota offensive lineman taken by the Giants in the second round one year ago, currently their starting center.

Nubin played six games in 2023 with a torn meniscus.

He had arthroscopic knee surgery after the season.

Schoen more than once mentioned that Nubin had 13 interceptions at Minnesota.

As a counter to that, Phillips in 29 games at Kentucky did not have a single interception.

“In the grand scheme of everything everyone knows I’m sticky in coverage, I’m gonna get the ball off dudes,’’ Phillips said.

Asked if his hands are any good, Phillips said, “Man, they’re really good but at the same time I can always work to get better.’’

Phillips not having any interceptions was not a deal-breaker to the Giants.

“Some of these guys that are 5-11, 200 [pounds], run 4.4, would be playing receiver if they had good ball skills,’’ Schoen said. “He’s sticky in coverage, he’s around the football a lot and he’s got a lot of traits and those are things we’re going to obviously work on.’’

Phillps had practice battles for one season at Kentucky with receiver Wan’Dale Robinson, who is entering his third year with the Giants.

Robinson posted on social media “gone be just like old times’’ after the Giants took Phillips.

“Man, I can’t even describe it,’’ Phillips said. “We’ve been talking crap for so long. He just called me. I can’t wait to go against a great player like him.

“I was younger though so he may have got the best of me back then but I think it’s good for me now.’’