The Baltimore Ravens should have known what they were getting with free agent cornerback and 2-time NFL All-Pro cornerback Jaire Alexander.
A player past his prime. An unreliable starter. Someone more likely to blow a game for you than save one.
All of that was on display for the Ravens in a a gut wrenching, 41-40 loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 1 in which Baltimore blew a 15-point lead with just 4 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
“To put Baltimore’s disastrous fourth quarter in perspective, teams had a record of 2,312-3 (.998) when holding a lead of 15 or more points in the final four minutes of a game since 2000, according to ESPN Research,” ESPN’s Jamison Hensley wrote on September 9. “When the Ravens were up 40-25 with 4:48 remaining, their chances of winning were at 99.1%.”
No one was worse than Alexander, who was the worst graded defender for the Ravens with a 29.8 overall grade from Pro Football Focus. Alexander’s grade placed him 106 out of 107 eligible NFL cornerbacks in Week 1.
Alexander Came To Ravens From NFC North
There weren’t many tears shed, if any, when Alexander was released by the Green Bay Packers on June 9 and signed a 1-year, $4 million contract with the Ravens on June 18.
When Alexander wasn’t hurt the last 2 seasons — he missed 20 games combined in 2023 and 2024 — he was as much of a headache off the field as he was on it.
“One of the key offseason departures this year for Green Bay was cornerback Jaire Alexander,” Lombardi Ave’s Josh Hill wrote on September 7. “There was a time where he was an important piece of the Packers’ plan, but he overstayed his welcome and was jettisoned in free agency. Alexander landed in Baltimore with an opportunity to revive his career, but it took just one game — and more specifically one boneheaded play — to make Packers fans thankful he’s gone.”
Despite being a dominant corner in Green Bay for a time and signing a 4-year, $84 million contract extension in 2022, Alexander is most remembered for a bizarre incident in 2023, when he walked out with the captains for the opening coin toss against the Carolina Panthers despite not being a captain.
Alexander, a North Carolina native, erroneously elected for the Packers to play defense first, which the referees ignored when they realized he wasn’t a captain.
It ended up being a PR nightmare and embarrassment for everyone but Alexander, who simply said since he was from North Carolina he should have been one of the captains. The Packers suspended him for one game for conduct detrimental to the team after the incident.
Alexander Missed Most of Preseason With Injuries
It wasn’t even certain if Alexander was going to play against the Bills after he missed a good chunk of he preseason with nagging knee issues — something that didn’t stop Alexander from traveling to watch his alma mater, Louisville, play Eastern Kentucky in its season opener on August 30.
“Ravens CB Jaire Alexander said there’s no excuses for his play tonight, although he acknowledged he would’ve like to/benefited from more practice time this in training camp,” The Baltimore Sun’s Josh Tolentino wrote on his official X account .
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