Acme Packing Company
Alexander was the last man standing from the Packers’ 2018 draft, which was Brian Gutekunst’s first as general manager.
In a way, the clock started ticking on Jaire Alexander’s time in Green Bay the moment he appointed himself a team captain prior to the Packers’ matchup with the Carolina Panthers late in the 2023 season.
In the grand scheme, it was practically nothing. Among the things that teams have had to explain away, unscheduled attendance for a coin toss barely merits a mention when there have been actual felons and worse on NFL rosters. But it was the opening salvo in what would become a multi-year consideration: how much trouble are you worth? How many headaches will we endure to keep you on the roster?
Since Alexander named himself captain that day, it’s been his availability that prompted the Packers to return to that question. Outside of that, he’s been essentially a model citizen. When he’s been on the field, he’s been excellent. It’s just that he’s rarely been on the field.
After the Carolina incident, Alexander would suit up for just nine more games in a Packers uniform, counting playoffs, and he played just 10 snaps in his final appearance. That, coupled with his minimal contributions in both 2021 and 2022, sealed his fate. ESPN’s Rob Demovsky wrote today that “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.”
And so the book closes, not just on Alexander, but on Brian Gutekunst’s 2018 draft class, his first at the helm for the Packers. Alexander was by far his most successful pick from his first go-round; though five players from that class are still in the NFL to some extent, Alexander was the only one to earn a second contract with the Packers, making two Pro Bowls in addition to being voted second-team All-Pro twice.
Here’s how the rest of the 2018 draft class fared:
Josh Jackson - cornerback - Iowa (selected 45th overall) - A ballhawking defensive back at Iowa, Jackson lasted three underwhelming seasons with the Packers before being dealt to the Giants’ in a player for player swap that landed the Packers Isaac Yiadom. Yiadom’s sole notable contribution in Green Bay was playing poorly enough that he opened the door for Rasul Douglas to ascend quickly to a starting role. So, in a way, Josh Jackson ultimately became Rasul Douglas. Sort of. If we squint at the problem a bit.
Oren Burks - linebacker - Vanderbilt (selected 88th overall) - Burks was a terrific athlete coming out of college, but he never put it all together on the field for the Packers, though he played more than 1,000 snaps on special teams across four seasons in Green Bay. He’s gone on to big things elsewhere, though, playing in Super Bowls with the 49ers and Eagles. His tooth-rattling hit on Keisean Nixon got...
