For months, it appeared that folks in Green Bay were wrestling with the difficult decision of figuring out what to do with a star player in the defensive backfield–Jaire Alexander–who just could not stay healthy, and was due a significant amount of money. The Cowboys, certainly, can empathize.
In the end, the Packers did decide to cut Alexander loose, on the morning before the opening of mandatory minicamp. Alexander was planning to show up for the camp, which would have been the first step in a mending of the relationship between the team and player. Instead, the Packers pulled the plug on the guy who was once the highest paid corner in the league, at four years and $84 million.
Alexander is certainly a player with whom Cowboys fans have some familiarity. He did, after all, intercept a pass against the Cowboys, on the Dallas 19-yard line, no less, in the disastrous playoff loss following the 2023 NFL season. That pick helped set up Green Bay’s second touchdown, putting the Packers ahead, 14-0, and leading to the eventual rout.
But with the Cowboys facing injury uncertainty in their own defensive backfield, there could be a case made for Dallas to now pursue Alexander in free agency.
Cowboys CB Room Pocked With Questions
That’s the notion from CBS Sports’ Jared Dubin, who notes that while the Cowboys have options in the defensive backfield, with star corner Trevon Diggs out with a knee injury, the top-level choices are not great.
Writes Dubin: “Dallas has a lot of potential answers in the secondary aside from Daron Bland, but none of them is a guarantee and a bunch of them are injured. Trevon Diggs is working his way back from his second major injury. Third-round pick Shavon Revel is recovering from an ACL tear. Trade acquisition Kaiir Elam hasn’t lived up to his first-round draft billing.
“Alexander is obviously another potential injury risk, but at his best he would be by far Dallas’ best option.”
Indeed, Alexander has much to offer–when he is healthy and at his best. He is a two-time Pro Bowler and a two-time All-Pro, but a knee injury hampered him throughout 2024, and he was eventually shut down after having played just seven games. The previous year, he struggled with a shoulder injury and also played seven games, before rallying late in the season and, to the chagrin of the Cowboys, performing well in the playoffs.
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