The Green Bay Packers have a big question to answer ahead of the 2025 season, as the team has considered trading or releasing star cornerback Jaire Alexander.
One of the latest updates on Alexander comes from NFL insider Josina Anderson, who reports that the Packers have discussed a trade with teams involving the star cornerback, and releasing him remains a possibility.
"The Packers have had exploratory trade talks with other clubs involving Alexander," she wrote. "Releasing him is also an option."
When it comes to teams that could have interest in Alexander, Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer mentioned the Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers, Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Rams. However, Breer also believes that the most likely outcome is Alexander staying on a "reduced contract."
"Rob, I could throw the San Francisco 49ers, Rams, Steelers and Chiefs out there as teams that entered the draft with needs at the position, and didn’t take corners in the first two rounds of the draft," Breer wrote.
"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," Breer concluded.
Of the four teams mentioned, the Steelers probably make the least sense. Granted, the team could use more depth at cornerback, but the starting spots on the boundary are already locked-in with Darius Slay and Joey Porter Jr., which leaves the biggest question mark in the slot, where Alexander has played sparingly during his career.
The 49ers lost Charvarius Ward in free agency this offseason and did not replace him, so Alexander would be an ideal fit there. The Rams and Chiefs also have question marks on the boundary, and Los Angeles has been linked to Miami Dolphins cornerback, Jalen Ramsey, so they're in the market for a starter.
But, as Breer notes, something will have to be done with Alexander's $84 million contract, whether that be a restructure or Green Bay picking some of it up. It's fair to assume teams won't be keen on taking on that large sum of money after Alexander has struggled to stay healthy in three of the last four seasons.
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