The Green Bay Packers are releasing two-time Pro Bowler and two-time second-team All-Pro cornerback Jaire Alexander, according to reports Monday morning.
The 28-year-old has played a combined 14 games across the 2023 and 2024 seasons, as he has struggled with injuries.
This past season, he did not play any time after Nov. 17 and eventually was placed on injured reserve and underwent knee surgery. In 2023-24, he suffered shoulder and knee injuries and also faced a one-game suspension for detrimental conduct to the team.
Alexander signed a four-year, $22 million contract extension in 2022. He and Green Bay explored trade options this offseason before he was then asked to restructure his contract and take a pay cut ahead of the upcoming season.
Alexander seemingly did not want to restructure his deal, and now came the decision to cut ties.
Before his injuries, Alexander had been one of the league’s premier defensive backs since he joined the Packers as a first-round pick in 2018.
In 2020, he reached his first Pro Bowl and received his first second-team All-Pro nod. He earned the same honors in 2022 after an injury-plagued 2021 season.
“I know it’s been really frustrating for not only him as a player, but us as a club,” Packers GM Brian Gutekunst said in January of Alexander’s injury struggles. “When you have a player that has done what he’s done for us in the past, and then not being able to get him on the field consistently, that’s tough. It’s tough on the player, it’s tough on the organization.”
Green Bay was set to owe Alexander $17.5 million in 2025 and $19.5 million in 2026, but is now off the hook as the money was not guaranteed.
The Packers will save $17 million in salary cap space this season and $27 million from the 2026 cap. They will, however, take on $7.5 million of dead money on the 2025 salary cap, and the post-June 1 release adds another $9.5 million of dead money on the 2026 salary cap.
