Acme Packing Company
The Packers’ general manager spoke on his top cornerback at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis.
Speaking to reporters at the 2025 NFL Combine, Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst was noncommittal concerning Jaire Alexander’s future in Green Bay.
“We’ll see,” said Gutekunst. “We’re working through that. He certainly could be. We gotta get him out there more. Not being able to be out there at his best has frustrated him and that has obviously frustrated our football team too.”
As far as press conference comments go, that’s not overly dramatic, though it is a little surprising to see Gutekunst publicly voice concerns that had previously been only reported anonymously. Last month, ESPN’s Rob Demovsky reported that anonymous sources within the team were frustrated with Alexander’s ability to stay healthy and play through injuries. Now it appears we can put at least one name to those anonymous reports.
Whether or not Alexander could or should play through injuries is a different and difficult conversation, but it’s hard to argue Alexander has been anything but healthy in recent years. Since 2021, Alexander has appeared in just 34 of 68 possible regular season games. In two of the games where he did play, he was on the field for 10 or fewer snaps.
That’s a pretty abysmal return for a guy who signed a massive extension after the 2021 season. His four-year, $84 million extension included $30 million guaranteed, and puts the Packers on the hook for a $24.9 million cap hit in 2025 if Alexander is on the roster.
The structure of the contract is such that the Packers have some time to make a decision on Alexander, and as we’ve previously reported, that works in the Packers’ favor. If the Packers want to pressure their would-be top corner into taking less for 2025, they hold all the cards. They don’t need the cap space adjusting Alexander’s contract would bring, meaning they can play this out as long as they’d like if they’d like to get the best possible deal for Alexander’s services.
Of course, it’s possible the Packers are just tired of the will he/won’t he availability dance for Alexander and just want to cut ties. That’s fair, but it would hurt the Packers’ cornerback depth chart. Right now Keisean Nixon is the only guy who you could characterize as a reliable starting-caliber corner (depending on your opinion about Carrington Valentine). Even if Alexander is only on the field for eight games, that’s eight games you don’t have to worry about an important spot in your secondary.
Clearly, there’s a lot of hypotheticals involved in the Alexander situation. Does it add up to him being on the Packers’ roster this season? As a certain general manager recently said, we’ll see.
