This one simple trick drives NFL GMs crazy!

He's not coming back without a restructure; otherwise too much can be saved by letting him go. Alexander has only played in half of the games in the last four seasons; I'm sure everyone can do math, but just to highlight the number, that's 34 of 68 regular season games, the same odds you get with the coin toss. Financial considerations aside, it might be best for both sides if he found another home--it's not good to regularly hearing about "the two sides."

Your most notable free agent options at this point include Rasul Douglas coming off a poor season and Asante Samuel, Jr. with a big injury concern. I would be looking for depth somewhere come cuts time.

I wouldn't be surprised if CB is at the top of the draft shopping list next year. Finding seventh-round gems for this position is something that can't be counted on.

Jaire, Jaire, Jaire, Rodgers, Rodgers, Rodgers, Bakhtiari and so on. Jaire takes up too much air in the room just like Rodgers and Bakhtiari did. GB should have cut their losses much earlier w/Rodgers/Bakhtiari and Jaire is same unless there is a marked reduction in his contract and a clamp-down on his antics.

I watched Cooper De Jean recognized by Trump while the Eagles visited the WH. DeJean is a team player-a wistful moment.

I am sticking to what I have said before it is in the Packers best interest to keep Alexander even without a restructure. He is a shutdown corner that is needed. When he is on the field that takes away that side of the field. Yes he has been injured but that does not mean he will be injured this year. If he is healthy keep him. They save only 6 mil on the salary cap by releasing him. No team is going to give a decent trade for him.

Yes try to get a restructure and if that does not work keep him and then next year you might be able to trade him for more especially if he has a good year. Yes it is a gamble but everything about this game is a gamble. Why get rid of a good shutdown corner that is needed to save 6 million on the cap.

This lamenting over the CB room is starting to get tiresome for more reasons than that it’s an excuse to bring up Alexander’s status yet again, First off, let me say that I am of the belief that it is more likely than not that Alexander plays for us this year. However, let’s assume he does not here, as that would remove pretty much all of the facial justification for this piece.

Last year we played most of the season with Nixon outside and, by the end, Valentine had secure the vast majority of snaps on the other. For the most part both did pretty well when judged on actual outcomes. Since then we’ve added Hobbs. We actually only play two corners in base.

Historically in DB heavy groups we played a lot of corners. Hafley however plays more safeties. We’ve just signed Simmons and that only adds to that mix that includes Oladapo, Hopper, Anderson, Williams/Bullard. It’s a legitimate question how many true CBs will see snaps if everyone is healthy.

So what is the net change at pure CB without Alexander? Stokes out and Hobbs in. In this D that’s a wash at worst based on fit. I’d argue it’s probably an upgrade and certainly offers more versatility. Nixon, Hobbs and Valentine are our likely primary options if all are healthy. Nixon and Valentine performed adequately last year by any metric. Hobbs may usurp one, but if he does that suggests only improvement.

In addition we drafted a CB late. We lost Ballentine and Rochelle, neither of whom really played on D last year. We also have our 7th from last year in King, who was once thought of as an early pick and certainly has ball skills. We have the Chiefs 6th round pick Kemal Hadden, who was projected mid rounds and fell. We have Dunn who has played in 12 games and a raw 2023 UDFA uber athlete in Kaleb Hayes who projects outside (9.75 RAS). I’m ignoring new UDFAs like Buggs Brown and Fleming here.

Based upon last year, those guys would never see the D even with one corner out. They would be STers. If we lost more maybe one sees the field on D. However, out of that group of 2 7th rounders, a 6th and a couple for developmental prospects, it’s far from implausible that one won’t actually earn legitimate consideration as a 4th option CB. That’s assuming we don’t pick anyone up as Gute churns. CB is a position where that’s happened frequently (Douglas, Hadden, Rochelle, Ballentine, Hayes, Dunn being recent examples).

I think our CB room is fine, based on results. Without Alexander it may not have star power, but there’s no better metric than actual production., and within the confines of a Hafley D we return not only all starters last year not named Alexander, but all those who played meaningful snaps except Stokes who has been replaced by a veteran in Hobbs.

With Alexander we are 4 deep in terms of experienced players and probably need just STers and maybe a small number of snaps from one of the depth. Without him we probably don’t need much more from the depth either given we keep adding slot options. This is not a Barry D or that of his predecessors which regularly fielded large numbers of corners and the signs are it won’t going forward.

The packers don't lack anything.
Jaire Alexander isn't Sauce Gardnar.
And even if he was.
It wouldn't guarantee a winning record.
The packers can move Hobbs around.
Nixon and Hobbs could be the starters.
With Carpenter backing them up.
SO Truthfully- Alexander isn't
going to blackmail the packers ever again.
If they do move Hobbs.
Bullard will be in the slot.
And it just might help him more than
any other player in the secondary.
Since he lost his starting job to Williams.
So, IMO- they don't need a shutdown CB.
The secondary will survive any moves.

Weren't Valentine and Nixon our two top corners over the last two years, based on snaps and tackles?
Weren't Valentine and Nixon who started for us in the playoffs last year?

I don't see the angst, personally. We're returning our two starting corners, and we replaced Stokes with Hobbs. They might not be Pro Bowl shut-down corners, but they do a decent job......they've started on defenses that finished 10th and 6th in scoring defense the last two seasons. How bad can they be?

But for those of you who are really concerned, there is a simple solution: Free Agents. We have plenty of money to use to sign somebody like Rasul Douglas, or Shaq Griffin, or Eli Apple.....there's about two dozen CBs who are unsigned FAs right now, some of them more expensive than others but most of them fairly affordable.

Not worried about CB. Not worried about the defense. I'm a lot less worried about the offense than I was a week ago. If this team isn't in the playoffs, it won't be because the roster isn't "good enough"

I don't see Alexander going anywhere soon, if at all during the 2025 season.

Packers have time to work with him on a renegotiation as they evaluate his health and motivation during camp. They can even continue to talk and evaluate into the first few games of the season prior to the trading deadline. And by then, maybe Alexander will convince them he wants to stay.

The DBs are a good group of vets and some talented rookies who will try to earn chairs in the room.

I believe the biggest positional battle will be identifying the best 5 on the OL. I see Morgan vs Walker & Belton vs Rhyan.

Also Edge rushers. Sorrell and Oliver are going to push Van Ness and Enagbare.

I have been amused by the mostly media-induced JA Pack Frack. However, being mindful of the Law of Probability – which simply states that the higher probability - the more likely an event is to occur. My surprise that JA and the Packers are currently in remediation is minimal. Because this development had the highest probability - over all the other unlikely and lower probability scenarios – namely:

- trading JA and his current contract for a high draft choice – which no competent GM would do.
- trading JA and his current contract for a low draft choice – which would not be an acceptable return for Gutekunst.
-trading your “problem child” for another team's “problem child.” Higher probability of just being a lateral move.
- JA volunteering to re-structure his contract - which would be contrary to his self-interest
- Gutekunst releasing JA. This would provide some salary cap relief (which isn't necessary this year) but no compensatory pick.

However both parties had to exhaust all of the lower probability scenarios in order to arrive at this inflection point. Also JA had to realize that his market value and commensurate salary as a FA - would only be a fraction of his current contract (or variation thereof) with the Packers.

So in short – reality has fully arrived for both parties - which provides the best setting for a win-win outcome.

This reminds me of the media concern about the Packers having a #1 WR. Cue hands wringing and short memories omitting the fact that Rodgers first looked for Adams, and if he was double covered, he'd still throw it to him in crucial situations. In particular, the championship game against the Brady led Buccaneers. Spreading the ball around, finding an open receiver and not just focusing on one guy is always better, IMO. So, for one game, a WR might get thrown to eleven times, and catch eight for a lot of yards and a TD or two. The next game, it is a different WR.

How do you define a "shutdown corner"? Do the Lions have one? The Vikings? The Bears? Well, maybe the Bears, but the Packers had a lot of passing yards against them in that first game last year. Less so in the second game, with Watson and Love both getting knocked out with injuries, but still enough to win if Hafley hadn't given the game away at the end.

More to the point, is Alexander a shutdown corner? He sure didn't look like one when he got torched repeatedly in that first game against the Eagles. He's still pretty good, but he is not great. The defense played well without him.

I don't think Alexander likes playing for the Packers anymore. They are a very buttoned-down organization, and some players begin to chafe against that after awhile. The same thing happened to Aaron Rodgers. The relationship between Alexander and the team has soured, and it's time for them to part ways, even if the Packers get nothing in return for him.

Most of the advanced metrics will say that a solid secondary without a weak link will fare better than a secondary with a star player and a weak link... OC and QBs know how to find that lagging player down to down.

We have a solid secondary with no clear weak link... now it's up to the pass rush.

I think they're going to be OK. The secondary did well enough while 23 was injured. The addition of Hobbs and the possibility of some of the younger guys taking a step forward (like Kalen King) makes me worry even less. I'd love to have Alexander back on an incentive rich deal tied to availability that protects the team but has enough signing bonus to give him some security. But even if a deal that makes both sides happy can't be reached, I think we'll be fine.

If the Packers wanted to move on from Jaire Alexander then why didn’t they sign another FA or Draft another one? Hobbs is another injury risk. Nixon? C’mon. He talks better than he plays. He’s a two not a one no matter what he says. I even thought trade but that seems less likely. Clearly some of us see it differently than the Organization. I pray they are right. They get paid to be right. We are going to find out.

Rasul is 31 -- old for a CB and not an option; nor is the injured Asante Samuel. There's no CB value out there.
GB is 'okay' with it's current group w/o JA. However, CBs get injured a lot; if we lose one to injury we're extremely thin and teams will use 3 WRs to exploit us. We need another quality CB in the group.

Apparently, the brass are just fed up with JA -- practices all week, then doesn't play; hard to plan your D. That seems to be why they want to move on -- not so much the cap $ or getting anything in trade value; just the uncertainty. Too bad. I'm in the 'he has value even if for 1/2 the year' camp...but I get that ditching him means no JA cap in 2026. We'll know a lot more after the June 1 cuts start happening....and, there's no rush on him as he doesn't have a big guaranteed ongoing contract.

Honestly name the position group that has more questions than CB.

Don’t totally get the obsession on CB. We have Nixon, Hobbs, and Valentine under contract. You need two guys on the boundary and one back up. If Jaire comes back, even more depth. We also have Bullard as a starter or back up for the slot. That is a lot of depth right there. Next year, maybe Valentine and Jaire disappear but everyone else is under contract and we add one or two in the draft.

Now look at offensive line. Rhyan, Walker, and Tom are expiring. Jenkins might be a cap casualty. Morgan is still unproven. And if that is not enough to concern you, Glover, Monk, and Telfort have shown no potential thus far and might not even make the 53. Then we have Belton and a 7th rounder as rookies. Yes, every single linemen on our team has a question mark that needs to be resolved except Banks. This will be our area of draft priority in 2026. CB concerns pale in comparison.