Brian Gutekunst gives subtle but telling response about Jaire Alexander's future that Packers fans shouldn't overlook
If there was any question about how the Green Bay Packers will handle the Jaire Alexander situation, well, there isn’t anymore. Unless something truly unforeseen happens over the next few weeks or months, the former All-Pro cornerback has played his last down for the franchise that drafted him seven years ago.During his pre-draft press conference, […]
If there was any question about how the Green Bay Packers will handle the Jaire Alexander situation, well, there isn’t anymore. Unless something truly unforeseen happens over the next few weeks or months, the former All-Pro cornerback has played his last down for the franchise that drafted him seven years ago.
During his pre-draft press conference, general manager Brian Gutekunst doesn’t let anything clearer than it was before. Or at least not intentionally. But his subtle message about the situation is, in fact, clear for those who are willing to see.
“We'll work through that, I don't have updates on Jaire. He's obviously on our roster right now,” Gutekunst said. “We'll see how the draft goes and see where we're at at that point.”
The sentence “he’s on our roster right now” is a classic answer for when a player won’t be on the roster for much longer.
It's fair for Gutekunst to be secretive, trying to get some type of compensation and make sure that Alexander won’t be free to sign with another NFC North contender. Any extra draft pick is better than nothing.
And when the general manager talked about waiting to see how the draft shakes out, it sounds much more like he's waiting for interested teams to miss out on rookie cornerbacks than any idea of needing Jaire more on his own roster.
The truth is that NFL executives don’t act like that when they intend to keep players around. Don’t get it wrong, general managers lie all the time—it’s part of their jobs to not give opposing teams real clues about their own plans.
However, they don’t say they are willing to trade players or are so open about their situations when the main idea is to keep them. The opposite might be true—the Packers never said they were open to trading Davante Adams or Rasul Douglas. But when a team says it is willing to move on from a player, he rarely returns to the roster.
Why they are moving on
For Jaire and the Packers, it’s the culmination of a combination of factors. Injuries are a big part of it, since Alexander missed half of the games over the past four years.
Money is also a huge aspect. The cornerback is slated to make $17.5 million this season and $19.5 million next year, but none of it is guaranteed. And the Packers have certain financial constraints, with less than $26 million in projected cap space for 2026—and only 29 players under contract, even before reaching some extensions, like Zach Tom.
If the Packers cut/trade Jaire Alexander right now, there's $17.04 million in dead money, and it opens $7.593 million in cap space in 2025. But more importantly, it clears $27.018 million next year and $2.005 million in 2027.
If for any reason the Packers end up deciding to keep Jaire around this season without a contract adjustment, the cap hit it $24.636 million. And releasing him next offseason would reduce the 2026 cap savings from $27.018 million to $17.494 million.
It's ok to pay that difference for prime Jaire Alexander, for sure, but the Packers don't have the option to know that ahead of time. A decision has to be made at the latest right before Week 1, and the plan clearly doesn't include finding this out when it's too late to go in another direction.
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