The Green Bay Packers have several contract questions waiting in the background as they prepare to take on the Minnesota Vikings.
One of the biggest sits at the top of their cornerback depth chart.
Bleacher Report named Keisean Nixon the Packers’ “most important” 2027 free agent, highlighting a veteran whose role has expanded considerably since he first arrived in Green Bay as a special-teams addition.
Nixon is entering the final season of the three-year, $18 million contract he signed in 2024. Over the Cap lists a $7.17 million cap charge for 2026 and $5 million in cash, with the 29-year-old scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent after the season.
Nixon Has Become More Than an All-Pro Returner
Nixon built his reputation in Green Bay on special teams. He earned first-team AP All-Pro honors as a kick returner in both 2022 and 2023, becoming the first Packers returner to receive first-team All-Pro recognition since the position was added to the AP team in 1976.
His value has since shifted toward cornerback.
Nixon started a career-high 17 games in 2025 and earned his first Pro Bowl selection after recording 72 tackles, an interception, a fumble recovery and a career-best 17 passes defensed. The Packers noted when announcing his Pro Bowl selection that his 17 passes defensed tied for sixth in the NFL and were the most by a Green Bay player since Jaire Alexander recorded 17 in 2019.
Packers.com went as far as calling Nixon the team’s “top cornerback” during training camp in July. The label matters after Green Bay spent the offseason sorting through options opposite him on the perimeter.
Nixon has also been open about what he wants from this season. While discussing his contract year at camp, he said he was leaving the business side to his agent and general manager Brian Gutekunst and focusing on football.
“I feel like I had a really strong year to start it but definitely ready to prove myself again this year,” Nixon told Packers.com.
Nixon arrived in 2022 after three seasons with the Raiders, initially carving out a role through special teams before becoming a regular on defense.
By 2025, he was starting every game on the perimeter and producing at a Pro Bowl level.
Packers Face an Interesting Contract-Year Calculation
Nixon’s case is unusual because his play spans two phases.
The Packers initially found value in his explosiveness as a returner and his ability to handle sub-package work in the secondary. He has since developed into a full-time outside corner, making the final year of his deal about far more than special teams.
Green Bay also has younger options developing behind him. That gives the organization alternatives, but it increases the importance of determining whether Nixon’s 2025 breakout at corner represents his new baseline.
The answer could shape the secondary beyond this season.
A strong 2026 would give Nixon a compelling free-agent profile: a proven starting corner with a Pro Bowl selection, two first-team All-Pro honors on special teams and four years of experience in Green Bay’s system. He would also be entering his age-30 season in 2027, a factor the Packers would have to weigh against the cost of keeping an established starter.
That makes Bleacher Report’s designation easy to understand.
Nixon begins the year as one of Green Bay’s most accomplished defensive backs and one of its clearest pending contract decisions. The Packers can spend the season evaluating the future.
Nixon gets 17 games to make the choice difficult.
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