Packers Rumors: Team in Talks w/ Jaire Alexander about Extension
By Paul Bretl
There is a lot of uncertainty this offseason for the Green Bay Packers. What will the 2022 roster look like? Will Aaron Rodgers return? How will they navigate their way under the salary cap?
However, one move that we should expect to see from the Green Bay Packers at some point in the coming weeks or maybe months is an extension for Jaire Alexander.
According to Aaron Nagler of Cheesehead TV, who is at the NFL Combine, Alexander’s representatives have met with the Packers to discuss an extension. Nagler adds that nothing is imminent, but a “decent chance” something gets done prior to free agency, which opens on March 16th.
An extension would accomplish two very important things. The most obvious is that it would keep Alexander in a Green Bay Packers uniform for the foreseeable future.
Although Alexander missed much of the 2021 season with an injury, the year prior, he had shown that he has developed into one of the games’ better shutdown cornerbacks. According to PFF ($$), Alexander allowed a completion rate of only 49% on 76 targets and just 9.5 yards per catch. His passer rating when targeted was a measly 54.3, and he also recorded 14 pass breakups — the third-most in football — and three interceptions. The end result was Alexander being named a second-team All-Pro.
The other benefit of the extension is that it will lower Alexander’s 2022 cap hit–creating some much-needed cap relief for Green Bay.
As a former first-round pick, the Packers picked up Alexander’s fifth-year option for the 2022 season last offseason. The fifth-year option essentially operates like a one-year deal, and the pay is based on the player’s performance during their rookie contract. This figure is non-negotiable, and in Alexander’s case, he comes with a base salary, as well as a cap hit, of $13.29 million this season.
Even with plenty of new money infused into this contract via an extension — and Alexander is in store for a big payday — Green Bay can still lower their 2022 cap hit by pushing current cap charges into the additional years added on.
In addition to the new money, the Packers will also take a portion — we will see how much — of Alexander’s $13.29 million base salary and convert it to a signing bonus. The benefit of this is that while the base salary counts toward the current year’s salary cap, the cap hit from a signing bonus can be spread out over the entire life of the contract–which, in turn, lowers the current cap hit.
By Ken Ingalls’ projections, the Green Bay Packers could make Alexander the highest-paid cornerback in football and still create well over $6 million in cap space for the 2022 season.
As I mentioned initially, the fact that these discussions are taking place shouldn’t be a surprise whatsoever. An extension keeps Alexander in Green Bay beyond 2022, and it provides the Packers with some needed cap relief as well.