"It’s better to get rid of a guy a year too early as opposed to hanging on to a guy a year too late."

We seem to have to say this about someone every season now. Then the next question is, "Is it 1 year or 2 years early?". Whatever the Packers decide to do, I hope they pick the right way and I'll be behind them because they seem to know more about these things than I.

The NFL and the CAP seem to be moving closer and closer to college programs and most of the players are on 3- or 4-year pace because they can only afford to keep a couple besides QBs and kickers.

I just hate it when the players the Packers give up on end up in this division. Then I always ask, "What if?".

"In 2020, he guarded Mike Evans on 79 percent of his routes and held him to one catch for 10 yards. In 2022, Alexander held Justin Jefferson to one catch for 15 yards."

If Cory needed to go back to 2020 and 2022 to look at games Alexander was great in, the time to cut your losses has come and gone and has come back again! While I have no doubt the Packers are a better team with a healthy AND happy Alexander, IMO he's no longer worth the headache OR the money.

All these negatives and then asking for a 2nd or 3rd is pretty crazy. More like a 5th or later.

To me this is a tough decision. Alexander is a shut down corner when healthy which the Packers need. I would say trade him if you can get a 4th or better even if it is after the draft and the pick is for next year. Otherwise I say keep him and take the chance he has a good season. If he has a good season they should be able to trade him for more next year. I do not see it being in the best interest to the Packers to pay that much and save so little.

They already waited a year too late. They are not going to be able to trade him unless they pay part of his bloated salary. Nobody wants a $20 mil part-rime CB.

When Alexander was on the field last year he was pretty damn good. The problem was he wasn't on the field enough. That is what this whole issue is about.

I am going with the assumption that Alexander will be gone. I am going to assume he will be traded this weekend at some point.

BUT, what happens if he isn't traded and remains on the roster when the season starts? I am starting to think that they turn him into the Nickel CB. But he won't play the Nickel. He will only come onto the field in Nickel/Dime situations. I think they will start in base defense a combination of Hobbs, Nixon and Valentine and Jaire won't be on the field. Only when they bring in the 3rd CB. Which essentially means he gets less snaps, but will hopefully be on the field more throughout the year.

We will see what happens. I am going to assume he gets traded. My guess is someone will trade for him in about the 4th round. My guess is he will be traded between Friday and Saturday.

What is the return on Alexander?
His injuries have hurt his value.
His demand is obvious.
His teammates want him.
His "replacement" brings uncertainty.
His contract suggests he's over-paid.
His skills are eroding.
Over confidence is obvious.

I believe the packers can re-adjust.
So he no longer is a critical piece.
Keeping Alexander is the challenge.
And it does come with Risk.

Throwing money at a problem,
just isn't a way to fix it.
He is a short term fix now.
The Packers will survive without him.

The only way we are going to know if Alexander can still play is to see him on the field. Everything else is speculation. As for trading him I think other teams will wait and see if the Packers release him rather than give up assets to find out for themselves.

It's a difficult decision because if Alexander can still play the Packers can use a solid experienced CB rather than waiting too see if a rookie selected during the draft develops into a starting player. I think that if the Packers can't or don't move Alexander during the draft they are going to stick with him for 2025.
We'll know soon enough. Thanks, Since '61

Alexander was by far our best corner last year until he got injured. None of his injuries are of a type considered to be a risk of degeneration sapping his athleticism. Corners generally tend to have relatively high injury rates. There’s no flip of a switch needed to recover play quality here. That would be a different issue. The question is purely one of durability.

Alexander has exceeded the injury norm in the last 2 seasons it’s true, but whether that is now inevitable is guesswork. After 16 games in 2022 he’s only managed 7 appearances in the last 2 seasons, so the last 2 have been net losses. However cutting bait now on a just turned 28 year old who has no congenital injury and hasn’t shown any decline when healthy seems dubious unless there is something more.

If we are going to cut bait, then doing so when his cap is bearable and we’ve no one near as good (and this draft doesn’t offer us that this year, if ever) becomes downright moronic if we get peanuts for him. If a team offers us a second, even a third with his contract, we get worse now and they clearly will need believe that we are foolish to relinquish him.

Hopefully this off season has been about both sides letting reality set in. Corners like Jaire don’t come along often and he needed to realize that he’s underperformed on it due to his absence and get out on the field and show teams why he’s worth chasing next year. This is a prove it year for Jaire for his next pay day, wherever that is. If this off season has allowed that to sink in then it’s been worth it. He’d be wise to be fired up and we should be the ones to harness that rather than a big dead cap hit.

It sounds like both sides may be gaining clarity. It’s probably over optimistic to assume that many pundits will catch up soon, but it certainly would be nice to have less click bait on this spartan source material and a little more realism. Thank goodness we will have some new topics to wring hands over soon.

If you're going to believe asking the question is the answer, you need to accept that the answer to how is yes.

Once Upon A Time, Alexander was a very good corner. Then injuries caused him to miss games. A lot of games. And, of course, the clock kept running, and now he's 28 and has had one decent season since he turned 23.

Regardless of anything else, he's still on the books for $17M in restructures and signing bonuses. BUT....we could avoid paying him the $17M in salary and roster/workout bonuses. If you actually thought Alexander would be able to participate in a majority of the games, then you might be tempted to pay that; if you're like me, and you don't believe that, then the obvious solution is to stop pouring money into a gopher hole.

As far as a trade.....he would cost the acquiring team $17M this season. Again,not an unreasonable amount for a top corner.....if you think he'll actually be able to stay on the field.

If you wanted to package Alexander and our pick at #54 to move up to #40, for example, that would mean that somebody was willing to give up the equivalent of a late 3rd round pick (while not actually giving up any picks). This is the move that I've been expecting all along, and that on draft day, we'll trade Alexander to move up.

Our starting corners will be Nixon,Valentine, and Hobbs. We only carry 4 CBs on the gameday roster, and those are three of them,and they are the three that are going to play.

So re-titling to "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of JA."

The Good - a relatively healthy and grounded JA returns to play - all if not most of the season as CB 1.

The Bad - cutting JA - gaining only salary relief (which isn't necessary this season ) - while no compensatory pick.

The Ugly - trading JA for a late round pick - which has only a 10-15% chance of becoming a consistent NFL starter.

Now Gutekunst may very well be trying to convert JA into meaningful draft capital. Or seeing if there could be a trade for a similar upper-tier player. As a responsible GM he is required to pursue these alternatives - even though both don't appear likely. Thus leaving only The Good as the best case scenario. Gutekunst has repeatedly stated that they have a lot invested in JA. That being so - bringing back JA will offer the best ROI to the Packers this season. Also keeping in mind that the future is now for the Packers.

Last year it was a torn meniscus. Speaking as someone who currently has the same thing, it's not fun. Recovery time without surgery is up to 8 weeks. He tried to bypass surgery to get back on the field. Recovery time with surgery is 6 months. Not that I've seen it stated on this site, but it really pisses me off when people say he doesn't want to play and just get paid.
I fully understand wanting to move on. Keep in mind though that Hobbs has missed 14 games over the last 3 seasons. If he misses time, what are they left with?
Maybe between the 2 of them, at least 1 should be available. If anyone thinks drafting a starting caliber corner and a serviceable depth piece is a bad idea....think again.

My guess is GB feels Alexander could 'play through injury' a bit more. My other guess is that his arthroscopy results did not show significant problems. All of his injuries have been vague. If it was a meniscus injury, those can be easily operated on (I have a meniscus injury presently). Whenever I look at Alexander, I see a guy with some 'me-first' tendencies and I can see how he would be a frustrating person to rely on. IMO, he has character issues and those are not easily treated.

If Alexander the Occasional's salary for his part time play was viewed as a tradable by one of 31 other teams, he'd be gone already.

Gutey has obviously had, even initiated trade deal talk. No takers. Alexander now seems motivated to play for top money with as few snaps as possible to extend his career. Maybe he is delusional, ignoring the fact the NFL doesn't value his reputation as much as Ja does.

A few weeks ago the Packers seemed resigned to keep him on the roster this season, at least to the trade deadline. See how he plays WHEN he plays then decide. Packers control Alexander's future. All he can do is try to show he's actually a top NFL player worth feeding his motivation for the job...top money, not a SB.