Packers in 'a good place' with veteran CB but his health is always concerning

For a while last season, it seemed as if Jaire Alexander had played his last snaps with the Green Bay Packers.

He was standoffish with the media regarding his future with the team and, contractually, he was putting the Packers between a rock and a hard place. 

A divorce seemed almost certain, but Alexander wasn't cut in free agency, and the Packers didn't select a cornerback high in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Now, NFL insider Peter Schrager is telling Pat McAfee that the Packers' brass and Alexander's representation seem to be on good terms.

"I talked to Matt LaFleur during draft week and he said they're in a good place with Jaire Alexander," Schraeger said on Thursday's "Pat McAfee Show." "This situation is in a lot better place than what has been presented in the media. There is a place for Jaire Alexander in Green Bay. He and Jeff Hafley actually have had a great relationship."

This is quite a turnaround. From a messy relationship that seemed to be on the rocks, to talks about a future together. The Packers and Alexander have seemingly come back from the brink.

And yes, that is a great thing for the Packers because a healthy Alexander does potentially make their secondary elite. That's especially true when considering what safety Xavier McKinney brought to the table in his first season in Green Bay.

There should be an air of caution around Alexander's status for 2025, though, and it's not because the Packers no longer want him. At this point, we can assume that the reports are true and that they do, indeed, want him on the team.

Green Bay may want him on the field, but the fact of the matter is that he's only played in 14 total games for the past two seasons because of injuries. That's seven games played in 2023 and seven games played in 2024.

Go back even further to the 2021 season, and Alexander has missed 31 of Green Bay's last 66 games. Take away the one-game suspension in 2023 for conduct detrimental to the team, and he's still played in just 30 of the Packers' last 66 games. 

That's an availability rate of only 45%.

Alexander is a great player when he's healthy, but he's rarely been healthy as of late. He's also 28 years old and heading into his eighth NFL season.

Again, when he's out there, he's a game changer. He's historically been a physically imposing player who isn't afraid to body wideouts at the line of scrimmage, though. Speaking of, he's also never been afraid to come up to the line to make a tackle.

That's a great mindset when he's making big plays, but combine it with his fragile physical state, and it's a recipe for more missed games in 2025 and beyond.

The point is this: The Packers want Alexander back, but they shouldn't have put themselves in a position to depend on him. 

Bringing in Nate Hobbs as a free agent and drafting Micah Robinson out of Tulane in the seventh round may not have been enough to make that possible.