Packers Predicted to Prevent ‘Publicly Anticipated’ Breakup With All-Pro

Cornerback Jaire Alexander is on the short list of cut candidates this spring for a lot of NFL pundits. It isn’t hard to see why.

After June 1, the Green Bay Packers could save twice as much against the salary cap with an Alexander release than a pre-June 1 cut would have. However, CBS Sports’ Cody Benjamin predicted the Packers to keep Alexander on a restructured contract.

“All offseason, the Green Bay Packers have publicly anticipated a breakup with Alexander, who’s simultaneously been one of the NFL’s best — and most injured — cover men,” Benjamin wrote. “Both sides hinted at a split in free agency, either via trade or release.

“Now the Packers apparently have a new contract offer on the table, but if the Pro Bowler doesn’t bite at a pay cut, Green Bay could save $17 million by cutting or trading the cornerback after June 1. That’s an increase of $9.5 million from prior to June 1.”

The Packers drafted Alexander at No. 18 overall in the 2018 NFL Draft. He immediately started on Green Bay’s defense as a rookie and became a Pro Bowler in 2020. Alexander again made the Pro Bowl during 2022.

The veteran cornerback earned a second-team All-Pro nomination in 2020 and 2022 as well.

But the question this offseason is how much is Alexander worth to the Packers when he’s only played 14 games combined the past two seasons. Since the start of the 2021 campaign, Alexander has missed exactly half of Green Bay’s 68 regular season contests.

Packers Reportedly Have Contract in Place for CB Jaire Alexander

Benjamin’s confidence in Green Bay keeping Alexander likely comes from a recent report from The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman.

“According to a source with knowledge of the situation, the Packers have proposed a restructured contract to Alexander, which tangibly demonstrates their interest in retaining the two-time All-Pro cornerback during an offseason in which they have been open to trading him,” Schneidman wrote on Tuesday.

Alexander has not agreed to the restructured contract, but Schneidman added that the cornerback wants to stay in Green Bay.

Alexander was an All-Pro the past two seasons he was completely health. But missing more than half of 2023 and 2024 makes a new contract for the cornerback complicated.

The 28-year-old is entering the fourth year of a five-year, $84 million contract. His cap hit for 2025 is set to be $24.6 million.

The dead cap hit if the Packers release Alexander drops from $17.04 million to $7.52 million after June 1 according to Over the Cap.

The cornerback was very healthy early in his career. In his first three seasons, he missed just four games.

But over the past four years, Alexander has dealt with all sorts of injury issues. Most of his ailments recently have been lower-body injuries, but he landed on injured reserve because of a shoulder injury in 2021. He has also suffered a concussion in his career and missed a game while on the COVID-19/reserve list.

Potential Alexander Landing Spots if Released

Benjamin predicted Alexander to stay with the Packers, but that didn’t stop him from projecting where the cornerback could land if he reaches free agency.

The CBS analyst named the Washington Commanders, Atlanta Falcons, Las Vegas Raiders and Minnesota Vikings potential landing spots.

Alexander moving on to the Vikings would obviously hurt Green Bay the most. The Commanders are another NFC playoff team from last year that the Packers could compete with in the wild card race during 2025.

The Falcons could be in that category too. Atlanta greatly improved its defense in the 2025 NFL Draft but didn’t address outside cornerback.