The Green Bay Packers are still seeking a potential trade partner for cornerback Jaire Alexander to avoid cutting him loose for nothing, and another franchise with a similar sense of urgency might have interest in a one-for-one trade.
After another injury-shortened season in 2024, Alexander is on the chopping block for the Packers due to his availability issues and the high cost of his $84 million contract. When asked point-blank about his potential return in 2025, general manager Brian Gutekunst — who is usually direct about wanting to retain players — said, “We’ll see.”
Since then, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport has reported that the Packers have engaged in trade conversations with other teams about Alexander, who has remained a high-level cornerback when healthy but will also carry a $24.9 million cap hit into next season.
That’s a tough risk to ask another team to take. But the New York Jets? They might just consider it if it would help them solve their Davante Adams problem for 2025.
Bleacher Report’s Alex Kay recently projected a player-for-player trade between the Jets and Packers heading into the start of the 2025 league year on March 12. The trade pitch is simple: Green Bay offloads Alexander to New York in exchange for Adams, who will cost more against the cap — about $38.2 million — but better satisfy their roster needs.
“A one-for-one swap of two aging but still effective veterans would benefit both sides, filling positions of clear need for the franchises involved while providing Adams and Alexander with much-needed changes of scenery,” Kay wrote.
Jaire Alexander’s Return to Packers is Highly Unlikely
Gutekunst did not slam shut the door on Alexander potentially returning to the Packers for the 2025 season when speaking about it at the NFL Scouting Combine.
“We’ll see,” Gutekunst said of Alexander’s return. “We’re working through that. He certainly could be. We gotta get him out there more. Not being able to be out there at his best has frustrated him and that has obviously frustrated our football team, too.”
The evidence, however, suggests it is highly unlikely Alexander will be back in 2025.
Alexander is under contract with the Packers for the next two seasons, but he played just seven games because of injuries for a second consecutive year in 2024, raising questions about whether the team should continue to pay him such a large salary.
Alexander also amplified those questions when he declined to speak with reporters in the team’s annual end-of-season locker cleanout, saying he had “nothing good to say.”
The Packers could theoretically figure out a way to keep Alexander and reduce his contract cost, but Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has reported that the team has not even approached Alexander’s camp about a pay cut “because they know Alexander wouldn’t accept it” to remain in Green Bay for the 2025 season.
That’s a situation that screams imminent divorce.
Davante Adams Could Help Packers’ Super Bowl Chase
Adams’ potential return to the Packers has been a topic of discussion among fans pretty much since the moment he was traded to the Las Vegas Raiders three offseasons ago.
While the Packers traded Adams at his request, largely because he had grown frustrated with the team in contract negotiations, things are different now for the three-time All-Pro wide receiver. His $140 million contract — which, in 2022, made him the highest-paid receiver in the NFL — is unlikely to remain intact for the upcoming season, putting him at a critical point in his career where he must decide what he wants for himself.
If Adams wants to chase the dollar, a release from the Jets and a bidding war on the open market could benefit him most. If Adams wants to contend for a Super Bowl, though, he might not have a better opportunity than a homecoming with Green Bay.
The Packers have reached the playoffs in each of the past two seasons, and Gutekunst said after their wild-card exit in January that he feels “it is time” for his team to start competing for championships. They have a franchise quarterback in Jordan Love. Now, they need a high-level wide receiver to consistently offer Love a reliable passing option.
The Packers certainly know Adams is that type of player. He caught 669 passes for 8,121 yards and 73 touchdowns and broke multiple franchise records in eight previous years with the team. Adams has also had at least 1,000 yards in every season since leaving.
While Green Bay would likely prefer to sign Adams on the open market to a contract on their terms, a trade for him might be too good to pass up if the Packers can also move Alexander’s contract off their books.
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