Very little about Keisean Nixon’s time in Green Bay has followed the script - and that’s exactly what makes his story so compelling.
When the Packers signed Nixon back in 2022, he wasn’t brought in to be a cornerstone of the defense. He wasn’t penciled in as a starting slot corner, and he certainly wasn’t expected to become one of the league’s most electric return men.
The plan? Depth in the secondary and a boost to the special teams coverage unit.
That’s it. If not for his connection to Rich Bisaccia - who’d worked with Nixon during their time with the Raiders - there’s a good chance Nixon never would’ve landed in Green Bay at all.
But sometimes the best stories in football are the ones that weren’t supposed to happen.
Early on, Nixon didn’t exactly turn heads. By the end of the 2022 offseason program, he was buried on the cornerback depth chart - reportedly no higher than fourth. And with Amari Rodgers still handling return duties, it didn’t look like there’d be much room for Nixon to make an impact in that phase of the game either.
Then the season started. And everything changed.
By the end of that first year, Nixon had emerged not just as a regular on defense - logging a then-career-high 289 defensive snaps - but as an All-Pro kick returner. That’s not a misprint.
Before arriving in Green Bay, Nixon had returned a grand total of nine kickoffs in his entire football career, including college. Nine.
And yet by season’s end, he was the most dangerous return man in the league.
The momentum didn’t stop there. In 2023, Nixon nearly tripled his defensive workload, playing 809 snaps and earning his second straight All-Pro nod as a returner.
By 2024, he was on the field for over 1,000 defensive snaps. And now, in 2025, he’s the Packers’ top cornerback - a title no one had projected for him when he first walked through the doors at Lambeau.
This wasn’t the plan. But it’s the reality.
Now, is Nixon a lockdown, island-type corner? No.
But he’s something else - a player whose self-belief is so unshakable, so relentless, that it often elevates his game beyond what the tape might suggest. That confidence can be a double-edged sword.
He’ll take risks. He’ll gamble.
Sometimes that gets him burned. And sometimes, like in the recent matchup against the Bears, it gets him flagged - as was the case with a personal foul after a dust-up with Luther Burden.
But in that same game, we saw the full Keisean Nixon experience on display.
He got hit with the penalty that led to Chicago points. He gave up a completion on a well-placed throw while trying to jump the route and make a play. But then, with the game on the line, he peeled off his own assignment to clean up a breakdown elsewhere in the secondary - and sealed the win with a clutch interception.
That’s Nixon in a nutshell. High risk, high reward. And always, always betting on himself.
“I do this [stuff] for me,” Nixon said after the game, leaning into the confidence that defines him. “I am who I say I am and I always tell myself that. And I come on the field and play like that, but that’s just a play, I’ve gotta keep making them.”
That mindset might not be for everyone, but for a defensive back - a position where swagger is half the job description - it fits like a glove. Nixon’s belief in himself isn’t just part of his game.
It is his game. And time after time, when things go off-script, he’s the one stepping in to rewrite the ending.
No, Keisean Nixon wasn’t supposed to be this important to the Packers. But now, with this team chasing a Super Bowl, he’s right in the middle of the action - making plays, taking chances, and proving, once again, that he belongs.