Signing Jaire Alexander was never going to be easy. The Packers have been trying to get an extension done with the All-Pro cornerback for the past few months, and the task became even more difficult after what happened a few days ago.
The Dolphins agreed to a deal with Xavien Howard last Friday that will pay their All-Pro corner $50.69 million in new money. The updated average per year of $25.3M makes him the highest-paid player at his position in the league. But because Howard still had multiple years left on an extension signed in May 2019, he’s actually being paid $17.86M per year.
Alexander wants to be the highest-paid corner in the league, and you can be sure his agent will use $25.3M per year as the new starting point in negotiations. Meanwhile, you can be just as sure the Packers will still consider Jalen Ramsey the highest-paid player at $20M per year. That huge chasm will have to be overcome if the two sides are to reach an agreement.
If this all sounds very familiar, it should. The Packers had a similar difference of opinion with Davante Adams – a difference of opinion that ultimately led to the All-Pro being traded to Las Vegas. Adams and his agent considered DeAndre Hopkins to be the highest-paid wide receiver at $27.25M per year while the team used Julio Jones’ $22M per year as the benchmark. Hopkins, like Howard, still had multiple years left on his previous deal when he signed his extension.
The Packers spent months attempting to get an extension done with Adams, but the huge difference between what the player wanted to be paid (over $27.25M per year) and what the team was willing to pay (about $23M per year) proved irreconcilable. The Packers did improve their offer last month, but a bitter Adams had decided he wanted to be traded by then.
To be fair, getting an extension done with Alexander was going to be very difficult even before last Friday. On the one hand, it’s understandable why the former Louisville star thinks he deserves to be the highest-paid corner in the league. He was named second-team All-Pro in 2020, and at the age of 25, he’s just now entering the prime of his career. On the other hand, it’s understandable why the team might be reluctant to pay Alexander over $20M per year. After all, only one of his four seasons has been great, and he’s coming off a serious shoulder injury that sidelined him for three months.
So what happens next? The Packers will undoubtedly keep trying to get something done. Their success will depend on Alexander’s resolve. Most athletes choose the security of a long-term deal rather than risk injury by playing out the final year of their contract, but Adams chose the latter, and it worked out for him. He made it to free agency, refused to sign his franchise tag, and all but forced the Packers to trade him. Alexander could use the same strategy, especially if he’d prefer to play elsewhere. But that’s a lot to expect from an undersized corner who just missed 13 games with an injury.
Unless an extension is reached prior to the draft, GM Brian Gutekunst would be wise to use one of his first five picks in the upcoming draft on a corner. While trading Adams brought back good value, it left the Packers extremely vulnerable at wide receiver. Finding another corner would give Gutekunst the luxury of tagging and trading Alexander next March if a deal can’t be worked out. Since Eric Stokes and Rasul Douglas are signed through at least 2024, the defense would be able to survive life without Alexander, although trading away a quality young corner is never what a team wants to do.
The guess here is that the two sides will reach a compromise sometime before the start of next season. After studying all the contracts signed by corners in the past three years, a fair deal would be $80M for four years with about $55M guaranteed. That’s what Alexander is worth. Of course, whether that’s what he’s willing to accept is a whole other matter.
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What do you think – are teams like the Dolphins and Cardinals doing these wild contracts with the purpose, in part, of screwing other teams? If so, seems like they’re doing a pretty good job of that. Crazy to think that the Packers may AGAIN pick a corner in the first couple of rounds. Stunning, if that happens – but, as you say, probably makes sense to cover them in a year or two. In the meantime, if the corner trio stays healthy, they should have the best set of corners in the league. Excited to see whether Stokes becomes a shut down-type corner this year. And hopefully he’s working on his hands all summer!
Remember, the Dolphins and Cardinals have cheap QBs. That makes it easier to overspend at other positions.
One way or another the deal will get done. I have his jersey so letting him walk should be out of the question.
a guy who i have not seen mocked to the Packers but who may make some sense is corner Andrew Booth of Clemson (i know, Clemson). thanks to his untimely sports hernia surgery about a week ago, Booth’s athletic testing numbers are, and will be, a big unknown. it seems Booth’s stock could drop into the back of the first round. i have no opinion on Booth as a prospect for the Packers; however, it seems that he may get drafted in roughly the area where the Packers pick.