Xavier McKinney heads for free agency with massive payday in mind

With the disappointing 6-11 season over and no playoff game for which to prepare, Xavier McKinney was just about finished cleaning out his locker Monday morning while catching up with teammates and saying his goodbyes as the offseason was about to begin.

Before he left, McKinney, a fourth-year safety who just completed the final year of his rookie contract, pondered his future as an unrestricted free agent and told The Post, “I’m at peace with where I’m at in my career.’’

As he seeks a new lucrative deal, McKinney’s timing was sublime considering he picked off two passes in Sunday’s season finale against the Eagles at MetLife Stadium.

He spoke Monday like a player who knows he’s going to be paid.

“I don’t think nobody’s on my level from the standpoint of being able to do every single thing on the back end,’’ McKinney said. “I think a lot of safeties have certain things that they’re good at and a lot of stuff they’re not good at. But with me, if you just look at my whole game and how I am, I’m able to do everything at a high level and be very productive doing it.

“I’m the most complete safety out there, and it’s about time for some respect to that, too. So, I definitely think I am the best safety in this league and I’ll continue to prove that.’’

McKinney’s rookie contract was a four-year, $8.4 million deal.

He’s coming off a 2023 season when he played every defensive snap, had three interceptions, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries and 116 tackles.

Derwin James of the Chargers is the highest-paid safety in the NFL at $19 million per year (4 years, $76 million). Minkah Fitzpatrick of the Steelers is next at $18.24 million per year (4 years, $72.98 million). Then Seattle’s Jamal Adams at $17.5 million per (4 years, $80 million), Atlanta’s Jessie Bates III at $16 million (4 years, $64.02 million) and Minnesota’s Harrison Smith at $16 million (4 years, $64 million).

So, you get an idea of what McKinney is seeking.

“I’m a top safety,’’ he said. “People try to act like I’m not. But you turn on the tape, man, and my tape is as good as any of them out there right now. I feel like, even with that being said, I haven’t even touched the surface or the level of where I know I’m going to be. I’m one of the premier safeties in this league, and it’s time for that to be respected.’’

McKinney is unlike running back Saquon Barkley, who for the past two years has professed publicly that he wants to be a Giant for life and been exasperated that the team has no sentimentality and has refused to give him a long-term contract.

Asked where he stands compared to his good friend Barkley, McKinney said, “I stand on business is business.’’

McKinney said he “learned a lot’’ from Barkley’s contract frustrations and added, “All I can do is keep doing my part, keep being consistent and making sure that I’m going out there and being productive. The numbers and everything else, those never lie.’’

Asked about his game Sunday and the timing if it, he said, “Ending on that note was definitely good. But it’s a part of what I do, so it’s not surprising for me. It’s who I am, it’s what I do. I’ve been doing it for a long time.’’

When Giants general manager Joe Schoen was asked if he sees McKinney in the same elite status McKinney sees himself, he said, “I’m not going to negotiate myself against myself and call him elite or make some hyperbolic statement about how great he is. But, I like Xavier McKinney. He’s been a good player since we’ve gotten here. He’s young, he played 100 percent of the snaps, checks a lot of the boxes. “He’s a guy that we’ll obviously talk with. It’s just you’ve got so many resources and how are you going to divvy them up when you put the puzzle together in the offseason. So yeah, he’ll be a guy that we’ll talk to, obviously.’’

When McKinney was asked after Sunday’s game about the possibility of having the franchise tag (projected at $17.2 million for 2024) stuck on him, he said, “No comment.’’

When Schoen was asked Monday if that was a possibility, he said, “We’ll have those conversations. It’s not something I want to use on a year in and year out basis, but it’s a tool at our disposal.’’