Jaire Alexander’s Season Is Over. Is His Packers’ Career Finished, Too?

Jaire Alexander’s season is almost certainly over.

Now, the question becomes is his Green Bay Packers career finished, as well?

Green Bay head coach Matt LaFleur said Wednesday that Alexander — the Packers’ top cornerback — was “most “likely” done for the season due to a a torn posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. ESPN reported that Alexander underwent arthroscopic surgery on his knee Tuesday, and his only hope at returning in 2024 would be if Green Bay reaches the Super Bowl.

The Packers have clinched a playoff spot, but are currently the No. 7 seed in the NFC and will likely play all of their postseason games on the road.

That means the oft-injured Alexander will have played just 34 of a possible 68 games in the last four seasons (50.0%). In three of those years, Alexander will have played seven games, or less.

There were also four games since 2021 that Alexander started, but couldn’t finish. So Alexander will have completed just 30 of Green Bay’s last 68 games (44.1%).

“Yeah, I would expect Ja most likely, he’s going to be done for the rest of the year,” LaFleur said. “It’s unfortunate. It is what it is. I feel for him. Obviously, he was trying to get his knee right, it wasn’t getting right, and so, yeah, it’s a tough deal for all of us.”

Alexander played in six of Green Bay’s first eight games this year, then sustained his knee injury against Jacksonville on Oct. 27. Alexander was inactive against Detroit in Week 9 due to the knee injury, he Packers had a bye in Week 10, then Alexander started against Chicago in Week 11.

Alexander left the Bears game after just 10 snaps, though, due to the same knee injury and hasn’t played since.

The Packers believed Alexander would return at some point, which is why they didn’t put him on the injured reserve list. That never happened, though, and now Alexander’s year is almost certainly finished.

“Yeah, we can go back in time,” LaFleur said of the decision not to shelve Alexander earlier. “That’s not what I’m trying to do right now. It’s the situation. It stinks that we’re here but we’re here.”

Where the Packers go from here will be interesting.

Alexander, a 2018 first round draft choice, had three stellar seasons with the team. As recently as 2020, Pro Football Focus ranked Alexander as the No. 1 cornerback in football.

Since then, injuries have turned the undersized Alexander (5-10, 196) into a part-time player.

Alexander played just four games in 2021 due a shoulder injury. In 2023, he missed three games with a back injury, six more with a shoulder injury, and a 10^th contest after he was suspended for conduct detrimental to the team.

This season, Alexander missed Weeks 4-5 due to quadricep and groin injuries, and now the knee injury has ruined his year.

Alexander turns 28 in February — not old, but not young either for a little man in a game of giants. His injury history is starting to resemble David Bakhtiari’s. And he’s been a problem in the locker room.

Green Bay can make a clean break from Alexander this offseason, though. And it would border on irresponsible for the Packers to count on him in 2025 — and beyond.

Green Bay would save $6.8 million against the salary cap this offseason by releasing Alexander. The Packers should also be flush with salary cap room to sign one of the top corners on the market.

Most projections have the 2025 salary cap in the range of $270 million. According to Spotrac.com, Green Bay’s total cap allocations in 2025 are approximately $226.2 million, and that includes Alexander’s contract. The Packers also have $16.3 million of available cap space this year they can carry into 2025.

If you throw in the money Green Bay would save by dumping Alexander, they’d be roughly $67 million under next year’s cap. That could allow the Packers to chase corners like D.J. Reed of the New York Jets, San Francisco’s Charvarius Ward or Detroit’s Carlton Davis in free agency.

Green Bay will almost certainly take a cornerback in the first- or second round of April’s draft, as well. So general manager Brian Gutekunst could give his coaches far more reliable options at cornerback than they’ve had with Alexander.