There is no doubt one of the reasons the new Giants front office and coaching regime decided to move on from Logan Ryan, the veteran safety and a team captain, is the presence of another safety, Xavier McKinney, on the roster, the field and in the locker room.

With Ryan, 31, gone, McKinney, 22, can emerge as a budding, young leader for a franchise hellbent to get turned in a different direction.

This thought is put to rest by McKinney.

“Yeah, my goal has always been the same from Day 1,’’ he said this week. “I’ve always wanted to be and was going to be a leader, that has not changed no matter who’s here, who’s not here. So that’s how I see it and that’s how I go with it.’’

So, McKinney never viewed Ryan as impeding his progress, on the field or off it. Ryan was the player conduit for Joe Judge, who lasted just two seasons as the head coach. Jettisoning Ryan had nothing to do with salary cap savings and everything to do with the new group not valuing the contributions Ryan could deliver.

“I think our fit, look when you’re taking over a new program, there’s decisions that need to be made and you make those decisions and what you think is the right thing to do for your team, so that’s kind of where we’re at with it,’’ head coach Brian Daboll said recently.

Interestingly, Daboll, when asked about the importance of new leadership and a culture change, mentioned McKinney before any other Giants’ player.

It sure sounds as if McKinney would have preferred to continue his NFL ascension with Ryan on the scene.

“That’s my guy,’’ McKinney said. “We had conversations, we talked, and you know, it sucked. We’re brothers, but I was happy for him with whatever he was going to do, and he’s at the Bucs now. I’ll keep it at that.’’

Ryan imparted wisdom to McKinney, but the 2020 second-round pick from Alabama did not require any infusion of confidence. McKinney had it from the start, though his NFL career was grounded as a rookie when he missed the first 10 games recovering from foot surgery. He played in all 17 games last season and led the Giants with five interceptions. His 93 tackles was third on the team, behind linebacker Tae Crowder (130) and Ryan (117).

McKinney and versatile Julian Love return at safety. If the Giants use one of their two first-round picks in the upcoming draft on Kyle Hamilton of Notre Dame, the position instantly is stacked. If Hamilton is not in the first-round plan, using a Day 2 pick on a safety, such as Jalen Pitre of Baylor, makes sense.

There is a new defensive coordinator, Wink Martindale, for McKinney to adjust to, but there is a measure of familiarity, as Jerome Henderson returns as the defensive backs coach. There is a good chance cornerback James Bradberry, another veteran in the secondary, is not around much longer, as the Giants would save $12.1 million in cap space if they can find a trade partner.

McKinney is not going anywhere. The Giants are building around him.

“I pride myself on consistency and being able to improve myself, my game, and how I lead each and every day.’’ McKinney said. “That’s the steps that I’m going to take forward with it. I’ve been a leader for a very long time, so this is nothing new to me. I don’t see it as something that’s bigger than what it was before because it’s just who I am. There’s no added pressure or anything like that. It’s who I am and it’s what I do.

“I think I’ve done a lot of good things very well. I think I’ve figured out a lot of things. Obviously, I still have a lot of improvement to continue to grow. But as far as laying a foundation-wise, I think I’ve done that. I think I’ve learned a lot. I’ve seen a lot of different things throughout these two years that I’ve been here. Now I think it’s time to kind of step it up a notch and go a little bit further with it and just keep building on from what I’ve already built.’’