Packers finally had enough of Jaire Alexander’s weekly ‘will he play?’ dilemma

The Green Bay Packers made a crucial roster decision on Monday, choosing to release cornerback Jaire Alexander.

Alexander had been a hot topic all offseason and was projected to be parting ways with the Packers in one way or another.

Green Bay likely hoped it could find a trade scenario that returned some value on its investment, but that never materialized.

“Jaire Alexander was a complicated player to trade — he was owed $17.5M this season and had missed 10 games in each of the last two years, but he’s still only 28,” The 33rd Team’s Ari Meirov wrote. “Green Bay didn’t want to move on without getting something back, but a deal never came together.”

With his release, the Packers will now absorb $17 million in dead money, split over the next two years.

Ultimately, the decision came down to Alexander’s availability.

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“Shortly after the 2024 season ended, sources privately expressed that the team no longer wanted to play the weekly game of whether Alexander would be healthy enough to play or would be willing to play at less than 100 percent,” ESPN’s Rob Demovsky reported.

In total, Alexander appeared in just 14 regular-season games over the past two years, missing time due to knee and shoulder injuries and serving a one-game suspension.

“The reality is for the last four years for Jaire, it's about half of the games he's been able to play,” Packers president Mark Murphy said. “So we kind of have been used to it.”

Alexander, a two-time All-Pro despite limited action the past two seasons, should have no problem finding a new team. He has 15 career interceptions over seven seasons. Last year, he still finished second on the team in pass breakups (7) and tied for interceptions (2).

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