The Baltimore Ravens’ Jaire Alexander signing has the potential to significantly upgrade what is already one of the most physical secondaries in the league, after the Green Bay Packers released the two-time Pro Bowler earlier this month.
There is, though, a caveat, of course, to Alexander’s impact, according to a veteran NFL scout.
“Jaire is a steal, if he can stay healthy,” an AFC South scout tells me, on the condition of anonymity to speak freely about another team. “They also had a decent draft. This team reminds me a lot of when the Colts had Peyton, no one wants to hear it anymore. It’s time to go get it.”
Keeping Alexander on the field might be the biggest risk for the Ravens.
Baltimore committed up to $6 million to Alexander, especially given that he has only appeared in at least 16 games once since 2020, and while he’s an instant upgrade to an already gifted secondary when healthy, the veteran cornerback’s availability is a going concern.
Brian Gutekunst Reveals Why Packers Released Jaire Alexander
As it turns out, hoping and crossing fingers that Alexander would be on the field for the Packers’ biggest games was a driving force behind Green Bay’s decision to move on, according to general manager Brian Gutekunst.
“I think it comes down to that, whether he can stay on the field. That was always the thing over the past four years, really, for us was his ability to be out there,” Gutekunst said Wednesday, during an appearance on Aaron Nagler’s Cheesehead TV. “Bringing in Nate Hobbs and Keisean [Nixon] stepping up like he did and Carrington [Valentine] going [into the lineup], I think that’s what allows us to be a better football team than we were last year, just those guys having more experience.
“Because the reality is Jaire wasn’t on the field for us much at all the past couple years. It’s a shame. He was such a good player for us, and it’s just one of those things where we would have loved for it to work out in some way, but I think over the last four years with what we were paying him and his ability to stay on the field, that was just something where it was time to move on.”
Gutekunst and the Packers quite obviously believe that this is a roster on the cusp of breaking through, and have been diligent about committing to drafting well and buttresting the young talent with targeted free agent signings. But, when a player like Alexander can’t be counted on it’s easy to see the motivation behind moving on.
The Packers are banking on Hobbs, Keisean and Valentine taking big steps in their development, which is only hastened by removing Alexander from the equation. We’ll find out early on if Green Bay made the right decision moving on from Alexander this spring.
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