As we enter the long part of draft season, it’s still quiet on the Jaire Alexander front. Following the season it sure seemed like the Green Bay Packers and their star cornerback were headed for a divorce, but as we’ve passed free agency we still haven’t gotten any noise about his potential exit. The Packers did sign cornerback Nate Hobbs in free agency, so the position was addressed to some degree. However, Hobbs shouldn’t be viewed as a direct replacement as he’s more likely to spend time in the slot and has also been unreliable to be available throughout the season.

According to Overthecap.com, Alexander is in the final two years of his deal and can be cut or traded for a profit to the teams cap space. For that reason, if there was an urgency to move on from him it would’ve happened before free agency when the team wanted to spend. Frustrations boiled over when Alexander once again missed a majority of the season. He was primed to return for a postseason run before a setback effectively ended his season, leaving the defense vulnerable. This marked the third season in four years Alexander has missed most of the year, playing only 18 of a possible 51 games over that span.

However, when healthy Alexander is still one of the top cornerbacks in the league. His previous two complete seasons both saw him earn second team All-Pro honors in 2020 and 2022. That level of talent is just enough to give the Packers pause when deciding to cut him outright. It’s more likely the team has been holding out for a trade to surface, but either there isn’t a sizable market for his services or the team is asking too much for the risk he comes with. Or perhaps the team is attempting to rework his deal to provide a safety net in case he continues to struggle to stay on the field.

We likely won’t know what the Packers are trying to do until the draft, but it now seems clear that the team is waiting to see how that goes first. The team may be targeting a cornerback early, which would give them the flexibility to move off of him without leaving the depth at the position so thin. Or, they may be waiting until draft night to trade him in order to move up for a player they covet. Keeping Alexander gives the team a lot more options than cutting him now.

There are going to be interesting corner options around where the Packers select. Not accounting for Travis Hunter Jr, who may not play full-time corner and will be gone well before Green Bay can take him, there are two corners who are typically at the top of the board: Jahdae Barron from Texas, and Will Johnson from Michigan. There is a slight chance that one of the two will fall to them, though typically neither will in mock drafts. Then there are a few options for fringe first round guys that the team could take if they liked them enough. Those options include:

– Shavon Revel Jr, ECU – Benjamin Morrison, Notre Dame – Trey Amos, Ole Miss – Azareye’h Thomas, FSU – Maxwell Hairston, Kentucky All of them come with their own caveats, but it is possible none of them make it back to the Packers in round two.

Of course, we can also consider that the team may choose to keep Alexander after all. The talented corner could be the difference between a strong or elite defense should he put together a healthy streak of games in time for the postseason, which is what they had hoped would be the case last year. If the Packers wish to be contenders then they’ll need elite talent throughout the depth chart and Jaire Alexander certainly fits in that category. It may be a risk, but the reward is great. I’d expect little to no information to come out over the next few weeks. The actions of the team during the first two days of the draft will tell us more than they’ll say publicly until this situation is resolved.