Albert Breer weighed in on the ongoing drama in Green Bay and provides fans with some hope for an Alexander return.
More digital ink has been spilled on the Green Bay Packers’ relationship with Jaire Alexander this offseason than on any other player relationship with the franchise since Aaron Rodgers in 2023. For much of this offseason, the two sides seemed to be light-years apart, but after the 2025 NFL Draft, some signs are starting to emerge that a reunion may indeed be possible after all.
General manager Brian Gutekunst has repeatedly deflected questions about the details of the relationship, preferring to simply state that Alexander remains on the team’s roster. “No updates there, and he is on our roster right now and that’s how we’ll proceed,” Gutekunst said at the conclusion of the Draft last week, adding “but we’ll figure that out as we go along.”
Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel recently reported that the Packers had a suitable trade partner set up for Alexander, but that the player would not accept a pay cut to facilitate the trade. With him remaining on Green Bay’s roster through the Draft, Alexander’s options now appear to be limited. Every potential resolution of Alexander’s situation — either him being released and signing with another team, being traded, or deciding to return to the Packers — suggests that he will have to take a pay cut of some sort.
On Thursday, one NFL insider wrote that he sees Alexander returning to the Packers for 2025 as the most plausible scenario. That commentary comes from Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, who answered a question about a potential trade in his mailbag this week:
The question, to me, comes down to money. He’s due $17.5 million this year. And, because of his recent injury history, that’s shown to be a bit rich for interested teams. Alexander, meanwhile, would rather be cut so he can pick his destination, and he might not be willing to help with a contract adjustment to facilitate a trade.
I would think, at this point, the most likely scenario is that he’s back on a reduced contract that has incentives. We’ll see.
The type of pay cut that Breer is suggesting is nothing new for the Packers, who executed a similar contract restructure recently. Last offseason, the Packers worked out an agreement with Preston Smith, converting a portion of his base salary into incentives which, if he had hit them all, would have actually paid him more than his original base salary. Smith ended up getting traded to Pittsburgh during the 2024 season, but the deal allowed him to at least start the season on Green Bay’s roster.
Although Smith’s incentives were tied to sack totals in 2024, the Packers would be wise to tie Alexander’s to games played or achievements like Pro Bowl or All-Pro honors rather than to interceptions, which might encourage him to freelance in the secondary. After all, when healthy, Alexander has remained an elite-level cornerback over the past few seasons, but availability has been the issue as he played more than 7 games in just one of the the last four regular seasons. That year, the 2022 season, saw him set a career-high in interceptions with five and earn both Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro statuses.
The two sides seem to have a long way to go at this point. However, the fact that at least one NFL insider sees Alexander returning as being the most likely scenario is an encouraging sign for the Packers’ cornerback unit, which added only seventh-round pick Micah Robinson in last week’s Draft.