Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst couldn’t have been clearer when asked about the possibility of trading cornerback Jaire Alexander this offseason.
“No, no,” Gutekunst said Thursday when asked if he would consider trading Alexander, a two-time All-Pro.
Alexander is under contract in Green Bay through the 2026 season. A frustrating season in 2023 hit a boiling point in December when the Packers suspended Alexander in Week 17 for conduct detrimental to the team, creating what could have been a fracture point between player and team. But Alexander returned for the regular season finale and enjoyed arguably his best stretch of the season over the final three games.
“Those things are difficult, those are tough, but at the end of the day it allowed us all to reset,” Gutekunst said. “Really proud of the way Jaire responded to that and I think that’s going to help us moving forward.”
Coach Matt LaFleur was also pleased with the way Alexander responded to the late-season suspension.
“I thought he responded, he did an outstanding job,” LaFleur said last month. “Sometimes, whether if it’s in football or life, sometimes you go through some hardship and you’re better for it. I think Ja could sit here and tell you, as tough as that was, really, on everybody here, I do think our level of communication will be so much clearer and consistent. I think there’s a lot of good that actually ended up coming out of that.”
Alexander dealt with back, shoulder and ankle injuries in 2023 and ended up playing in only nine total games, including the postseason. He broke up a pass in Week 18 against the Bears, had an interception setting up a touchdown in the wildcard round against the Cowboys and then played 98 percent of the defense’s snaps — while battling through an ankle injury — in the divisional round againt the 49ers.
Alexander was a second-team All-Pro at cornerback in both the 2020 and 2022 seasons. His return in 2024 gives the Packers a top player at a premium position for new defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, who is expected to play more man-to-man coverage and put more pressure on cornerback play in his style of defense next season.
