More information came to light on Monday morning regarding the Green Bay Packers’ negotiation tactics with two-time All-Pro Jaire Alexander. The Packers weren’t exactly acting in good faith with the two-time Pro Bowl cornerback before they chose to release him on Monday.
During the scouting combine, general manager Brian Gutekunst suggested the team wanted something in return for the investment they made in the 2018 first-round pick. By late spring his front office was desperate to seek a remedy and sent his agent a restructuring deal.
Jaire Alexander didn’t take the bait
The terms of the deal weren’t made public, but reports that Green Bay offered Alexander a restructuring deal were leaked to Matt Schneidman of The Athletic and ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
Some fans took that to mean Green Bay was acting in good faith with Alexander by trying to come up with a solution to keep him on the team. Alexander, 28, was due $17.1 million for his services in the upcoming season.
But the argument between the front office and Alexander had nothing to do with the Packers needing to save cap space.
Green Bay has over $28 million in cap space, per Over The Cap, the 12th-most cap space in the league before mandatory minicamp this week. They didn’t need to cut Alexander, and it’s unclear who they can replace the star cornerback with before training camp.
The Green Bay Packers offered a disrespectful offer
Per Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, the truth is that Green Bay offered Alexander a pay cut. While Rapoport didn’t provide details of how much salary they wanted for Alexander to eat in 2025, it was enough that his agent wouldn’t budge.
“So after an offseason of wondering and discussions and some trade talks, the Packers are, in fact, moving on from Jaire Alexander,” Rapoport said. “Remember, this has been one that has been up and down, back and forth for the last several months, actually, the last several years. Alexander, a Pro Bowler, one of the more talented cornerbacks in the NFL, has battled some injury issues over the last couple of years.
“Last year, particularly frustrating one. This obviously isn’t (the first time) the two sides agreed to explore a potential trade. That trade did not happen before the draft. So at that point, they discussed a potential pay cut or restructured contract, could not agree to terms on that either. In the end, the Green Bay Packers opt for a clean break.”
Breaking news on @GMFB: The #Packers are releasing Pro Bowl CB Jaire Alexander after an offseason of uncertainty. pic.twitter.com/zwrnBBNnYu
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) June 9, 2025
The break doesn’t feel completely clean at this point. It doesn’t seem like the Packers will be completely healed by the release either. They will have an extra $17 million, though.
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2 Comments
I don’t particularly like the way the Packers handled this, from what I might guess, but I don’t know. And I don’t see this article demonstrating its title very well.
Not once did we see the offer for us to decide if we thought it was disrespectful, The author made it for us