Not zero.
Huge downside to not having Alexander is that it relegates McKinney to little more than a high priced safety net.
@SteveLuke posted:It really is a shame that Jaire did not provide any indication prior to this season that he was an oft-injured malcontent who maybe should not have been relied upon but rather moved on from.
Who could have envisioned that a guy who'd only missed 23 of the previous 50 regular season games, including 10 of 17 last season, might again miss a majority of the games in 2024?
And who could have possibly thought that a guy who took it upon himself to be an honorary Captain in Charlotte last season might decide for himself whether he was healthy enough to play in 2024 -- and thus opting out of games the notoriously conservative training staff apparently deemed him fit to play in?
Surely Jaire's increasingly aberrant behavior prior to this season was likely to disappear and he would prove himself worthy of a contract that makes him the single biggest cap hit at the CB position in the NFL in 2024, right?
Would love to know whether MLF, Gute, Murph, all of the above, some of the above, have been calling the shots when it comes to handling Jaire but as Wilde and Demovsky concede, per usual they and the collective crack Packer press corps know nothing.
Between the former QB, Z Smith, and now Jaire, the Packers sure have had their share of highly-paid turds over the past few years.
EDIT: Forgot about De'Vondre Campbell.
Murphy made the beloved Gute do it,
If they plan on moving on from Ja, it makes the most financial sense to do it in 2025. Wait another year, it costs more.
Regardless, the Packers FO cannot assume moving forward that Ja is a full-time CB any longer. So whether they double dip in a deep draft for CB's like Gute did with the TE position OR they sign a FA starter at CB, they must plan that JA is at best a rotational part-time player you'd hope is available for the playoffs next season.
Herman explains it well:
I see a lot of people getting the math wrong on the Jaire Alexander situation for 2025. Yes, he's set to make $25.4 mil in 2025 and yes, the dead cap hit is $18.1 mil so there would be a cap savings of $7.27 mil... but you have to account for 2026 & 2027 as well. Keeping Jaire in…
— Andy Herman (@AndyHermanNFL) January 2, 2025
As mentioned previously, the Packers have plenty of Cap space, so I doubt a decision will be made based on that. Whether or not the team wants to commit money from their overall coffer is another story. I lean heavily to keeping him on the roster for the next year. Wouldn't be surprised if the Packers restructure the contract.
On a side note, do the Packers make a roster update and bring in a vet for the playoffs, or do they roll with what they have? Saw an article mentioning Patrick Peterson and JC Jackson as vets available.
Paging Aaron Rodgers for some GM assistance
It would be really stupid to cut JA. The FAs cling available are not as good and will cost more.
The only way you walk away from him is if the relationship is damaged beyond repair.
What if he is damaged beyond repair, ala Bak?
I think you give him one more season to see if he can get his health right, but Gute should also address the position either in the draft or FA. You can’t go into next season expecting JA to play every game because odds are he won’t.
Same with Watson.
Still a very good player but availability issues have been there for years and no real reason to believe that'll change.
@PackLandVA posted:As mentioned previously, the Packers have plenty of Cap space, so I doubt a decision will be made based on that. Whether or not the team wants to commit money from their overall coffer is another story. I lean heavily to keeping him on the roster for the next year. Wouldn't be surprised if the Packers restructure the contract.
On a side note, do the Packers make a roster update and bring in a vet for the playoffs, or do they roll with what they have? Saw an article mentioning Patrick Peterson and JC Jackson as vets available.
Peterson is washed.