The Green Bay Packers enter the 2025 draft needing to find solutions for the trenches and cornerback in cornerback on the defensive side of the ball.
The Packers face uncertainty with the status of Jaire Alexander for the upcoming season. It’s unclear if Alexander will return to the Packers in 2025. During the scouting combine in February, general manager Brian Gutekunst admitted the Packers and Alexander were frustrated by his injury history.
The Green Bay Packers could lose Jaire Alexander
Wm. Glasheen USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
“We’re working through that,” Gutekunst said of Alexander’s status with the Packers for 2025. “He certainly could be, but I think we’ll work through that as we go. We’ve got to get him out there now.
“I think obviously, we’ve talked about (how) there’s been a lot of frustration on his part. He wants to be out there badly and not being able to be out there at his best has frustrated him and that has frustrated our football team, too, because we’re better with him. But we’ll see.”
The two-time Pro Bowl cornerback has only started in 14 games since 2023 due to groin, back, shoulder and knee issues. The Packers would save approximately $7 million by cutting him before June 1.
Jahdae Barron ranked the best option for round 1
Garrett Podell of CBS Sports ranked the top draft options for Green Bay in the first round. Podell thinks Texas cornerback Jahdae Barron would be the best option for a team that needs a cornerback.
“Texas Longhorns cornerback Jahdae Barron would make a ton of sense for the Packers if he’s on the board at pick No. 23,” Podell wrote. “He was the 2024 Jim Thorpe Award winner, which goes to college football’s top defensive back, and his 91.3 Pro Football Focus coverage grade was the second best of any FBS corner last season.
“As far as measurables are concerned, something that Gutekunst and his front office clearly place plenty of weight on, Barron crosses the acceptable thresholds as shown below on his relative athletic score from the NFL Scouting Combine.
“Reinforcing their secondary that already has two solid safeties in 2024 first-team All-Pro Xavier McKinney and Evan Williams with a first-team All-American could make defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley’s unit even more dangerous in Year 2 with all that versatility. Plus, better coverage downfield could potentially juice a pass rush that didn’t quite live up to its potential in 2024.”
At 23, Barron won’t be the youngest cornerback in the draft. He’s five years younger than Alexander.
He played five seasons at Texas from 2020-2024. The five-foot-11, 194-pound athlete played high school football at John B. Connally High School in Austin, Texas.
Barron had a strong season in 2024, recording 46 tackles, 11 passes defended, and five interceptions.
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