The 2025 NFL season will be incredibly important for the Green Bay Packers. Green Bay has not won the division since 2021 and will attempt to win the NFC North later this fall. Unfortunately, the Packers will have to make that quest without one of their veteran defensive players.
The Packers cut veteran cornerback Jaire Alexander on Monday. Alexander struggled with injuries over the past two seasons. The two sides had previously worked together in the hopes of revising Alexander’s contract.
But just how much cap space have the Packers saved by parting ways with Alexander?
ESPN’s Rob Demovsky reports that the Packers will receive roughly $17 million in cap relief from the move.
“The 2018 first-round pick had two years remaining on the four-year, $84 million contract extension that made him the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL at the time,” Demovsky wrote. “The Packers will pick up more than $17 million in salary-cap space for this season.”
Alexander was scheduled to make $17.5 million in 2025, but none of that money was guaranteed in his contract.
Packers were clearly considering cutting Jaire Alexander since the end of the 2024 season
The writing was clearly on the wall that cutting Jaire Alexander was on the table.
Packers GM Brian Gutekunst hinted at the team’s frustration with Alexander at the end of the 2024 NFL season.
“I know it’s been really, really frustrating for not only him as a player, but us as a club,” Gutekunst said shortly after last season. “When you have a player who’s done what he’s done for us in the past, and then not being able to get him out on the field consistently, that’s tough. You know it’s tough on the player, tough on the organization.”
Gutekunst followed up that statement with what in retrospect looks like a grim warning following NFL free agency.
“We invested a lot in Jaire and want to make sure, if he’s not going to be on our football team helping us win games, that we get something back for that investment,” Gutekunst said in late March. “So we’ll see where it goes, but again, working with him weekly and trying to figure out what’s best for both Jaire and the Packers.”
The Packers made an effort to try and trade Alexander to another team. Unfortunately, nothing came from their efforts.
Green Bay will move forward with Keisean Nixon, Carrington Valentine, and Nate Hobbs at cornerback.
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