The Green Bay Packers have to remake the defense to a degree this offseason if they hope to take the next step into true Super Bowl contention in 2025.
Perhaps the two areas of greatest need exist in the secondary and at the position of edge rusher. Green Bay still employs two-time All-Pro cornerback Jaire Alexander, but several insiders are predicting that the team will part ways with him following the upcoming NFL draft, either via or trade or an outright release.
“The Packers may add an early-round cornerback, increasing the chance of trade after the draft. At the back end of the first round, they could target Jahdae Barron, Maxwell Hairston or Trey Amos. Barron would be the ideal successor for Alexander because of his inside-outside versatility,” Moe Moton of Bleacher Report wrote on Thursday, April 17. “Regardless, the Packers’ patience on the trade front may result in a post-draft move with Alexander’s replacement primed to start in his rookie campaign. The oft-injured cornerback who has missed 20 games over the last two years will likely play elsewhere in 2025.”
Jaire Alexander’s Salary, Injury Issues Create Complications to Packers’ Trade Scenarios
GettyGreen Bay Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander.
Moton noted that Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst has fielded calls on potential trades for Alexander, and that Gutekunst mentioned earlier this offseason that he would like to find a resolution to the cornerback’s situation ahead of the draft.
However, the draft will begin in Green Bay on Thursday, April 24, leaving just six days to get a deal done if Gutekunst hopes to meet that unofficial/preferred deadline.
Alexander is only 28 years old and remains one of the better cover cornerbacks in the league when healthy. However, the aforementioned 10-game absences he has suffered due to injury in each of the past two seasons, respectively, will undoubtedly give suitors pause and also affect what they’re willing to offer back to the Packers in trade.
Beyond that, Alexander still has two years remaining on his four-year contract worth $84 million, which was historically expensive when he signed it in May 2022. The annual average salary of $21 million connected to that deal remains the fifth-richest at the cornerback position in the NFL.
Alexander carries base salaries of $16.15 and $18.15 million in each of the next two years, and that could also be an obstacle to trading him when coupled with his inability to stay on the field over the past two seasons.
Green Bay Already Parted Ways With Former 1st-Round CB Eric Stokes This Offseason
GettyFormer Green Bay Packers cornerback Eric Stokes.
Alexander was a first-round pick in 2018, just as his former teammate Eric Stokes was in 2021.
Stokes also had a promising start to his career, but injuries derailed his trajectory. The Packers moved on from Stokes this offseason, who is now a member of the Las Vegas Raiders.
Moving on from Alexander would appear to prime the Packers to look at a cornerback with the No. 23 overall pick in the first round next week. Another potential option for Green Bay is to trade back, particularly with a team looking to add a quarterback late in the opening round Thursday, and amass multiple picks so as to attempt multiple swings at landing a starting-caliber defensive back entering his rookie season.
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