Green Bay Packers cornerback Keisean Nixon appears to have developed more respect for Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams after giving up a game-winning touchdown to him in overtime during the 2025 NFL season.
Nixon made a surprise appearance in Williams’ NFL Top 100 announcement video after a league-wide player vote saw the former No. 1 pick check in at No. 51 overall for 2026.
In the video, Nixon was asked about the fateful touchdown that he allowed to Williams in the Bears’ overtime win over the Packers in Week 16. Williams had floated a perfect 46-yard pass over Nixon’s head and into DJ Moore’s hands in the end zone, completing an incredible comeback in walk-off fashion in front of the home crowd at Soldier Field.
For Williams, it may have felt like payback after Nixon picked him off two weeks earlier in a similar, game-deciding situation to clinch a 28-21 win for the Packers in Week 14.
“The game-winner on me, yeah,” Nixon said with a smirk. “I gamed him and he gamed me, so it be like that. [Williams has] got a gift, just knows how to get it done.”
Packers Need More Consistent Keisean Nixon in 2026
Nixon was at the center of both the Packers’ highest and lowest points against the Bears during the 2025 season, which fittingly sums up how the entire campaign went for him.
After proclaiming himself “CB1” before the regular season, Nixon started all 17 games for the Packers for the first time in his career, recording one interception and 72 total tackles and tying for the sixth-most pass deflections (17) in the league. He went on to make his first career Pro Bowl as an alternate for Seattle star Devon Witherspoon.
The coverage numbers did not always align with Nixon’s No. 1 corner role, though.
According to Pro Football Reference, Nixon allowed six touchdowns and an opposing passer rating of 105.1 when targeted in coverage throughout the 2025 regular season. He also surrendered more yards per completion (11.6) and yards per target (7.5) than in any of his previous seasons with the Packers, underscoring his boom-or-bust nature.
The Packers will ideally want more consistency from Nixon during the 2026 season, but that could depend on what type of approach the 29-year-old takes in training camp.
Packers insider Jason Wilde told ESPN Wisconsin in June that he is skeptical about whether Nixon will participate in camp — or even play during the season — if the team does not sign him to a new contract. Thirty-five NFL corners make at least $10 million annually on their current deals, while Nixon is due $4.3 million in base salary for 2026.
If Nixon digs in and the Packers are unwilling to pay, it could make for a tense camp.
Have Packers Done Enough to Improve CB Position?
Assuming the Packers and Nixon find a way forward in 2026, he will likely return to the lineup as their No. 1 cornerback for a second consecutive season. Even still, questions remain about whether the team has done enough to improve its cornerback position.
Coming off the Packers’ 2025 playoff loss, expectations were that the Packers would make cornerback one of the team’s primary focuses for the 2026 offseason. And while the Packers did not ignore the position, they did not make the splashes some wanted.
During free agency, the only move that the Packers made at cornerback was signing former Washington Commanders starter Benjamin St-Juste to a two-year contract.
The Packers were more aggressive at the position in the draft, using their top pick — No. 52 overall — on South Carolina’s Brandon Cisse and circling back for Alabama’s Domani Jackson in the sixth round. All told, though, the starters may look the same for 2026, meaning the Packers will have to bank on better from Nixon and Carrington Valentine.
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