Latest update involving local talent and former Pro Bowl cornerback could be the perfect situation the Panthers' defense was waiting on
The Carolina Panthers begin mandatory minicamp this week, which will be a great opportunity to get a good understanding of the roster and what areas are still of pressing need prior to the 2025 season.With all players expected to be in attendance, the spotlight will be on certain positions to see how players perform. The […]
The Carolina Panthers begin mandatory minicamp this week, which will be a great opportunity to get a good understanding of the roster and what areas are still of pressing need prior to the 2025 season.
With all players expected to be in attendance, the spotlight will be on certain positions to see how players perform. The one position that's caught the most outside attention has been at cornerback.
Already notable outside names such as Jalen Ramsey have been linked to Carolina and now the perfect situation has presented itself if the Panthers wish to make another investment to the room, at frankly a low cost, this offseason.
Panthers should consider signing Jaire Alexander following release from Packers
On Monday morning, the Green Bay Packers informed starting cornerback and two-time Pro Bowl selection Jaire Alexander that he will be released after failing to find a trade partner over the last few months.
It seemed like the two sides would reach an understanding to play out the 2025 season at a lower price, but Alexander wasn't willing to accommodate. Following his release, and given his injury history, a one-year deal seems likely for the 28-year-old.
As a Charlotte native, Alexander's next opportunity could be returning home and playing for the Panthers. Carolina is lacking depth at the position and in serious need of another starting outside cornerback to play alongside Jaycee Horn and Alexander can bring some veteran leadership to the secondary.
Outside of Horn, the Panthers cornerback room consists of Mike Jackson, Chau Smith-Wade, MJ Devonshire, Akayleb Evans, Shemar Bartholomew and four undrafted free agents going into minicamp.
Adding Alexander to that mix gives Carolina two strong starting cornerbacks needed to make some serious noise on defense along with a revamped defensive front creating pressure on the cornerback.
Playing for Ejiro Evero would even be a welcome environment, and system, for Alexander as well. Evero's handled high-personality cornerbacks before after working with Jalen Ramsey in Los Angeles, Pat Surtain II in Denver, and helped turn Horn into a Pro Bowl caliber defender last season.
Curiously enough, Jaire Alexander's problems with the Packers started to aggravate in Charlotte. In 2023, the cornerback got suspended by the team after a coin toss fiasco before the game against the Carolina Panthers. He made himself a captain and almost made a mistake that would have affected the team in the game during the process. Head coach Matt LaFleur said the decision to suspend him was a culmination of factors. "It was never for one thing," LaFleur explained.
Alexander is still a great player when he's available, though. In 2024, he allowed a 79.9 passer rating when targeted. He had two interceptions, including a pick-six against the Tennessee Titans, and three pass breakups. Once the highest-paid cornerback in football, he allowed receptions in only 56% of the times he was targeted, which was his best number since an All-Pro season in 2020.
But it doesn't make the Packers' decision to release him absurd, because there were several factors helping explain it. First, injuries. Over the past four years, Alexander was on the field in only 34 of 68 possible games, with injuries all around his body — shoulder, knee, groin. Last year alone, he missed 10 games. He played only 10 snaps in six games against NFC North opponents.
After how things went last season, ESPN's Rob Demovsky reported that the Packers "expressed frustration with Alexander's inability to stay healthy and/or play through injuries," an indication that the team probably was more willing to allow him to play than the player was to being on the field down the stretch.
And beyond injuries and the aforementioned locker room issues, Jaire was an expensive proposition. The Packers' proposed offer for 2025 would have allowed him to play on an incentive-heavy deal, but he didn't take it.
The Panthers or any other interested teams have to weigh all these factors. If the roster has the salary cap room to make a deal, the depth to endure him missing time due to new injuries, and the culture to absorb his unique personality, Alexander's high-end play could be worth it.
All things the Panthers could be willing to accommodate to bring Alexander home and round out the defense for at least the 2025 season.
