The hope for the Baltimore Ravens and Jaire Alexander was obvious: He would come in on a short-term deal, he’d resurrect his career, and everyone would win.
Instead, the veteran cornerback has struggled to get on the field, and when he has, he’s been a liability for a badly bruised defense that can’t seem to stop anyone amid a nightmare season thus far.
It wouldn’t be shocking if Baltimore decided to pull the plug on the Alexander experiment soon, and The Athletic’s Ravens beat reporter Jeff Zrebiec thinks that’s now very much on the table.
“Yeah, I think we’re getting close to a tipping point with Alexander,” Zrebiec admitted in a bye week mailbag posted to The Athletic on Oct. 15.
Ravens-Jaire Alexander Breakup Would Make Sense for Both Sides
In fairness to both Alexander and Zrebiec, the Ravens insider noted he hadn’t heard anything about behind-the-scenes issues for the former Green Bay Packers star. However, after a knee injury cost Alexander time early in camp, he got healthy, only to be scratched for three straight games after a brutal Week 1 debut.
He got back on the field in an ugly Week 5 loss to the Houston Texans. He was again active in Week 6, but he didn’t see the field. It might make sense for both sides to just go their separate ways at this point, especially if Baltimore has no plans of using him moving forward.
“He’s a proud and confident guy, and he signed with the Ravens to be a difference maker, not to watch games from the sideline. He’s also on a one-year deal, so he surely wants to show 31 other teams that he’s still a quality starting corner.
” … How long will he be OK with having no obvious role on defense? From a Ravens perspective, how long can they afford to carry a veteran corner who doesn’t play special teams and isn’t getting on the field defensively?”
It wouldn’t cost the Ravens much to walk away from Alexander, either. He’s on a one-year deal with a cap hit of $4 million and playing time incentives that could boost the deal to $6 million. Spoiler alert: He’s not going to hit all of his playing time escalators.
Jaire Alexander Stats Sum Up Brutal Ravens Start
Pro Football Focus paints an ugly picture of Alexander’s Ravens tenure. He currently has a 36.9 grade, which sounds bad, and it is, but it sounds even worse when you consider it ranks him 165th of 171 cornerbacks. That’s a major fall from grace from a player who was an All-Pro consideration during his time with the Packers. Opposing quarterbacks have targeted Alexander five times in his two games, completing all five of those passes for 116 yards.
And while the entire Ravens secondary has struggled this season, Alexander has been a particularly different kind of bad, especially considering the limited opportunities.
Six different Ravens defenders have allowed 100+ yards & a TD in coverage, most in the NFL,” the X account Ravens Nation LIVE recently pointed out. “Marlon Humphrey and Jaire Alexander have combined to allow 20 catches, 332 yards, 2 TDs on 24 targets with only one pass defended.”
The only time he’s really made an impact came after the Ravens allowed a touchdown in Week to Houston. Texans receiver Jaylin Noel attempted to recreate the dance made famous by Ravens legend Ray Lewis before Alexander feebly tried to steal away the football after Noel’s first career touchdown.
As Zrebiec also noted, the looming debut of rookie offensive lineman Emery Jones Jr. will require a corresponding roster move, and cutting Alexander certainly is one way to free up a roster spot.
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