Former Green Bay Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander signed a one-year, $4 million contract with the Baltimore Ravens that features an extra $2 million, which could be earned via incentives. According to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, Alexander will receive $500,000 by hitting each of the following four play-time thresholds for the Ravens’ defense this upcoming season: 35, 40, 45 and 50 percent.
Barring a massive injury early in the year, Alexander should be able to hit closer to that $6 million total number (if he hits every incentive) than his $4 million base salary.
As a reminder, base salaries are guaranteed for veteran players if they make the roster in Week 1 of the regular season. So even if Alexander’s $4 million base salary isn’t guaranteed yet, he only needs to make it through training camp to get that money.
In the context of Alexander’s offseason negotiations with the Packers, that base salary figure could have meant a lot. Based on how the cornerback’s father, Landis Alexander, spoke on the issue on social media, it sounds like Green Bay leaned harder into incentives and away from base salary when the two sides talked about a potential restructure. Previously, Alexander was set to make $17.5 million in base salary for the 2025 season.
This wouldn’t be the first time that incentives-based negotiations led to the Packers losing a veteran player. Last offseason, running back Aaron Jones signed a one-year, $6 million contract with the Minnesota Vikings that had $1 million in additional incentives tagged onto the deal. The Packers’ final offer to Jones was a $4 million offer with $2 million in incentives, the difference in $2 million that would be guaranteed to the player by the time Week 1 began.
For reference, Green Bay cornerback Keisean Nixon, who was originally paid to be a slot cornerback before moving to outside cornerback full-time last year, will be making more than Jaire Alexander this year, should Alexander not hit his incentives. Nixon has already been paid out a $2.8 million roster bonus this year, will make $1.17 million in base salary in 2025, has hit his $200,000 offseason workout bonus, and that’s not including his $500,000 available in per-game active bonuses ($29,411 per game). According to Spotrac, Nixon is due $4.675 million in cash this year and would make $4.175 million if he were to be placed on the injured reserve before playing a regular season game — still a higher amount than Alexander’s base salary this season.
Aside from the comments Alexander’s father has made on social media, it’s still uncertain what the Packers’ final contract offer was to the cornerback. My guess, based on the deal Alexander signed? Probably something close to the league minimum from a base salary perspective, with the rest of the dollars tied into incentives. Your guess is as good as mine on the dollar amount associated with the incentives, though, which is the big question.