The Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles will meet in a highly anticipated showdown at Lambeau Field on Monday night. But the matchup between two NFC powers got a little extra heat when ex-Packer cornerback Jaire Alexander was traded to the Eagles ahead of Tuesday’s trade deadline.
Alexander and the Packers had a messy divorce over the summer, and while he was supposed to visit Lambeau Field with the Baltimore Ravens on Dec. 28, that has been moved up to Monday with the possibility of playing a key role.
There was a chance that Alexander wouldn’t be thrown into that role immediately as he learned defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s defense. But that doesn’t appear to be the case as The Athletic’s Zach Berman observed Alexander getting extra work in with starting cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean and defensive backs coach Christian Parker during a special teams drill at Friday’s practice.
Working with the fellow starters, while the other CBs practice kickoffs, seems to indicate that Alexander could join them on Monday and perhaps put the wheels of a revenge game in motion.
Eagles Give Jaire Alexander Revenge Opportunity vs. Packers
The Packers chose to move on from Alexander after he refused to take a pay cut last summer. The proposed deal was brought on by a slew of injuries that had transpired over the past several seasons, which forced Alexander to miss 19 games from 2021 to 2024. The injuries continued during his time in Baltimore, playing in just two of his eight games ahead of the trade. He's since declared on Thursday that he is in great shape and the Ravens made the trade to play younger players.
With that, Alexander is like the ex that shows up to their old partner’s stomping grounds ready to show he’s a changed person. But what he decided to leave out is that the Ravens had other reasons than youth to turn the page.
Alexander was a wreck when he got on the field for the Ravens, posting a 36.3 overall grade on 61 defensive snaps according to Pro Football Focus. He also allowed all five of his targets to be caught for 116 yards and committed a penalty, which would be enough for most teams to look for someone else, no matter the age of his competition.
The Packers look like the winners out of the decision to walk away from Alexander so far. But that could change if he has a big performance against his former team. Green Bay’s offense was predictable in a loss to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, and teams seem to have caught on to the Packers' desire to throw downfield and feed running back Josh Jacobs.
If Alexander integrates seamlessly with his new teammates, the discussion about whether the Packers made the right decision could be discussed, especially with how CBs Keisean Nixon and Nate Hobbs have struggled this season. That could give the former Packer a dose of revenge and Packers fans plenty of questions after Monday night.