July 2nd, 2025
On June 9th, after months of speculation, the Green Bay Packers finally released cornerback Jaire Alexander. He then proceeded to sign with the Baltimore Ravens nine days later. The contract is for one-year and $6 million (which includes a base salary of $4 million and incentives worth up to $2 million according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter). A possible explanation on why he decided to sign a cheaper contract is because of his former college teammate at Louisville, Lamar Jackson, who is the starting quarterback for the Ravens and is considered one of the best at his position. But how did the situation reach this point? There are possible reasons as to why this happened.
There are plenty of factors that have played a part in his departure from the Packers. What possibly began this sequence of events started in 2023, when the team went on the road to play against the Carolina Panthers. Alexander took it upon himself to go on the field and to declare that the team wanted to play defense. He did not mean it this way, as he meant defer. Not only that, but he was not elected captain for the game, so he should have never been on the field for the coin toss. Luckily for the Packers, the referees went with what head coach Matt LaFleur told them pre-game, which was to defer if they won the coin toss. While it was an honest mistake by Alexander, who wanted to be in on the coin toss as he is from the Carolina area, the team still ended up suspending the corner for the following game. Everyone thought he was leaving because of this drama. However, he ended up staying the next season.
During the 2024-25 season, the drama persisted, as he missed a lot of games throughout the year (ten to be exact). He did not play and the team was rather upset about his lack of availability. He only played 14 out of 34 games his last two years with the Green Bay Packers due to injury. This caused the end of his Packers’ career, as both parties were upset at each other about how the situation was handled. The team was willing to let him go, despite his elite talent.
There were rumors all over the place, from the Packers trying to trade him, to the team letting him go, and to even the team and him agreeing to a restructured contract (as it was difficult for the team to trade him). These rumors began right after the season was over. At one point, the team did try to trade him to the Buffalo Bills per Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz, but it did not come to fruition. Then, the team tried to get him to agree to a restructured contract, but that was a no-go, so the team decided to release him.
Overall, it is an unfortunate ending for one of the best players the Packers have had and many would have hoped his tenure had a much better ending. However, it was not in the cards.