More than a month after the Packers let it be known they were shopping Jaire Alexander, the former Pro Bowler remains on their roster. Alexander has not lived up to his pricey extension, and Green Bay still appears ready to move on.
Brian Gutekunst said earlier this offseason the Packers wanted a reasonable return on their investment, and offers do not appear to have provided that yet. But teams are showing interest, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Tom Silverstein. Two years remain on Alexander’s $21MM-per-year extension, and it appears interested clubs are attempting to wait out the Packers.
The Packers appeared close to moving Alexander at the start of free agency, but multiple factors interfered. Alexander’s unwillingness to rework his contract to facilitate a trade has factored into this process, Silverstein adds, but the Packers also did not view trade compensation as efficient. The staring contest continues heading into the draft, where another trade window will open up.
All three days of the draft figure to keep the window open, as Alexander drawing Day 3 capital is not difficult to envision based on his contract and pattern of unreliability in recent years. Alexander, 28, has missed 20 regular-season games over the past two seasons. The Packers also suspended him for a game after a strange incident involving a coin toss against the Panthers in 2023. Trade rumors emerged shortly after, but Gutekunst shot them down. A year later, a divorce still appears imminent.
Green Bay would take on $17MM in dead money were a trade to commence during the draft or at any point before June 1. A deal after that point would defray some of that dead cap to 2026. A post-June 1 cut would create $17.2MM in cap savings for the Packers. Alexander is due a $16.15MM base salary in 2025; based on his recent attendance record, that would likely be untenable for interested teams. But it does not look like the seven-year veteran is interested in doing the Packers any favors by redoing his contract on the way out.
Although a previous report indicated the team wants this resolved by the draft, the Packers waiting until after the draft, thus gauging which teams did not sufficiently fill their CB needs, could be a play here. This will be a situation to monitor for a Packers team remodeling at corner. The Packers did not re-sign 2021 first-round pick Eric Stokes, who joined a Raiders team that lost Nate Hobbs to the Pack. Keisean Nixon remains under contract, as does third-year player Carrington Valentine.
Alexander’s likely departure, however, still appears to leave the Packers with a CB need. Green Bay also does not employ the top CB trade chip presently, as Jalen Ramsey has now been granted permission to find a trade partner — for what would be his third career trade exit — to leave Miami.