GREEN BAY, Wis. – NFL free agency has come and gone and the draft is a month into the rearview mirror, yet the Green Bay Packers and Jaire Alexander have not arrived upon a decision for the 2025 NFL season.
On the one hand, having missed double-digits games three of the past four seasons, perhaps it’s time for a mutual parting of the ways to shed his $16.15 million salary. On the other hand, Alexander remains the team’s top cornerback.
The Packers no doubt would like to rework his contract, whether it’s to keep him or facilitate a trade now or later. Alexander doesn’t have to agree to anything of the sort and could take his chances on the open market.
That the Packers drafted only one cornerback, Micah Robinson in the seventh round, seemed to have signaled the intention to bring Alexander back. Comments by general manager Brian Gutekunst, however, quickly threw cold water on that assumption.
“He is on our roster right now and that’s how we’ll proceed. But we’ll figure that as we go along,” he said immediately after the draft.
With organized team activities beginning on Tuesday, here’s a look at the Packers’ cornerbacks.
Packers Cornerbacks Depth Chart
Veterans: Jaire Alexander, Keisean Nixon, Carrington Valentine, Nate Hobbs, Isaiah Dunn, Gregory Junior.
Rookies/first year: Kamal Hadden (returning practice squad), Kalen King (returning practice squad), Micah Robinson (seventh round), Johnathan Baldwin (undrafted), Tyron Herring (undrafted).
Big Question: Can Packers Stop Premier Passing Attacks?
A key question, of course, is Alexander’s future. But that’s just part of the larger question: When the Packers absolutely, positively have to get a stop, whether it’s against Jared Goff and the Lions in Week 1, Justin Jefferson and the Vikings in Week 18 or Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown in a potential playoff rematch, do the Packers have the cornerbacks to get the job done?
Alexander, obviously, would help – assuming he’s healthy and engaged. However, he played in only 33.2 percent of the defensive snaps in 2024, 40.1 percent in 2023 and 20.3 percent in 2021.
Even while playing about one-third of the snaps last season, he tied Keisean Nixon for No. 1 among the team’s cornerbacks in passes defensed. He is, by far, their best cornerback.
The Packers made only one noteworthy addition this offseason, signing Nate Hobbs to a four-year, $48 million contract in free agency. When he’s played, he’s been excellent. He ranked among the NFL leaders in completion percentage allowed in 2024, according to Sports Info Solutions, but he missed 16 games the last three seasons and played only 49.9 percent of the snaps in 2024 with the Raiders.
According to SIS, here are the coverage numbers for Green Bay’s top cornerbacks:
Hobbs: 42.9 percent, 6.6 yards per target, zero touchdowns allowed, one interception.
Alexander: 47.6 percent, 8.4 yards per target, two touchdowns allowed, two interceptions.
Nixon: 60.9 percent, 5.9 yards per target, five touchdowns allowed, one interception.
Valentine: 63.2 percent, 8.1 yards per target, zero touchdowns allowed, two interceptions.
Javon Bullard, who played a lot in the slot as a rookie after Alexander went down with a knee injury at midseason: 73.1 percent, 8.7 yards per target, three touchdowns allowed, zero interceptions.
At the end of last season, with Alexander standing maybe 10 feet away, Nixon spoke openly about being the team’s “CB1” in 2025.
“I was proud of Keisean last year,” defensive passing game coordinator Derrick Ansley said recently. “Very impressed with his maturity, his leadership, and he’s taken that next step and I think the sky’s the limit for him.”
Meanwhile, Valentine ended the regular season with a four-game streak with either an interception or forced fumble. In the playoff loss to the Eagles, he made highlight films for all the wrong reasons when he was stiff-armed to infinity by tight end Dallas Goedert.
“CV, he’s one of my favorites,” Ansley said. “He plays the game the right way. He’s smart, he works at it, it means a lot to him, and the next step is just to make routine plays look like routine plays. He’s very strong at the point of attack. He’s got good speed. He’s tough. Just making those routine plays down in and down out, I think he can take a big jump this year, as well.”
Bonus Question: Deep and Promising or Deep and Mediocre?
If the Packers do release or trade Alexander, Valentine, Hobbs, Nixon and Bullard would be the chief competitors for the top three spots. What about the depth? The Packers have options. Are they good options?
Gregory Junior, who was signed last week, was a sixth-round pick in 2022. Kamal Hadden was a sixth-round pick in 2024. Kalen King was a seventh-round pick in 2024. Robinson, who was coached by a former NFL defensive back, was a seventh-round pick in 2025. Johnathan Baldwin, who also was coached by a former NFL DB, got a big contract for an undrafted free agent in 2025.
“I don’t want to speak too soon, knock on wood, but he’s looking really, really good out there,” Ansley said of King, who was a star at Penn State in 2022 but almost went undrafted after a dismal 2023. “He’s playing inside and out. The light has gone off for him and he looks more springy in his step. He’s changed his body. His mind is at ease and he’s just jumped into this thing full speed ahead, man. He’s been very impressive, and we’ve just got to continue to get that kind day-to-day performance out of him.”
Jobs will not be won or lost during the two weeks of OTAs and the mandatory minicamp. However, the competition will be as real as can be. If a cornerback can cover Romeo Doubs on a slant or Jayden Reed on a crossing route in May and June, chances are he’ll be able to do it in August and September, as well. And if he can’t, it might be time to get that resume ready.