Packers bring ongoing saga to an end

Jaire Alexander's time in Green Bay is over

One day prior to the Packers kicking off their mandatory minicamp in Green Bay, the team brought the ongoing drama drama around star cornerback Jaire Alexander to a conclusion with the decision to release the still-talented but availability-challenged veteran.

Alexander, who only played in 14 games in the last two years, wasn’t willing to restructure his contract. But it’s clear that Alexander meant something to this team. With Alexander wearing green and gold, the Packers were 10-4 and they were just 10-10 without him. When healthy, Alexander was one of if not the Packers best defensive player.

From the Packers perspective, they weren’t willing to pay top dollar to someone that was only playing part-time. The 28-year-old Alexander had a cap hit of $24.6 million in 2025. That’s why the Packers were hoping he would take a pay cut. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. The next thought was a potential trade, but other teams also knew that they could just wait this out. They knew the Packers weren’t going to pay him that much money after underplaying his contract for the last two seasons. If Alexander really wanted to come back to Green Bay, he takes a contract restructure that gives him some incentives for being on the field.

Packers general manager Brian Gutekusnt said in a statement issued by the team "In his seven seasons with the Packers, Jaire established himself as one of the premier players in the NFL at one of the game's most challenging positions. His contributions to our organization were felt on the field, in the locker room and in our community, and he will be missed. We appreciate all he gave and we wish him all the best moving forward."

After months of speculation and the roller coaster journey of hope and then dismay and then hope again, it's official. Alexander will be looking for a new place to call home and if experience tells us anything, it probably won't be too far from Green Bay. We may very well have to watch Jaire suit up in a Vikings, Bears or Lions uniform. (We started to write "and see him six times a year," but there is no guarantee of that, is there?) And in the end, that is why Alexander is gone.

The latest from Packers minicamp

CHTV co-founder Aaron Nagler is joined by Justis Mosqueda of ACME Packing Company to discuss all the reports and updates coming out of the Green Bay Packers 2025 minicamp.

Can Kenny Clark Bounce Back Entering Year 10?

It is rarely good news to discover a key player dealt with an injury serious enough to require surgery, but when Kenny Clark told the Green Bay media he had a procedure on his foot to deal with a bunion and bone spurs, an injury he picked up in week one of 2024, it was frankly a relief. 

Clark signed a three-year, $64m extension last July, receiving the coveted and elusive third contract which is seldom handed out by the Packers, and promptly endured the worst season of his NFL career. There is a reason Green Bay is reluctant to give third contracts. There is a higher risk of the deal aging poorly due to the player being older and potentially close to their decline. It seemed they may have made a mistake in paying Clark for a second time after the year he had. He had only 34 quarterback pressures in 2024, producing his lowest pressure rate since the 2020 season. Clark had just one sack, having racked up ten the previous year, while his number of run stops, 21, was down from 25 in 2023.

Clark has played a lot of football and the Packers have not done a great job of providing sufficient depth so that he can get a breather every now and again. This is likely to add up over time resulting in a lower quality of play and a greater risk of injuries. If he is healthy, Clark is at absolute worst an above average defensive tackle. Whether he can avoid injury in 2025 and return to the level of performance he showed as a younger player will go a long way to deciding the ceiling for Green Bay’s defensive line, and defense as a whole.

Packers Face Tough Decisions on Wide Receivers Potential Second Contracts

Each of the Green Bay Packers top six wide receivers are on their entry-level contracts as we enter the 2025 NFL season. But that situation won’t last long. After the upcoming campaign, two of the team’s wideouts could reach free agency unless GM Brian Gutekunst decides to sign them to a second contract with the team. Two additional wideouts will be in the same situation after the 2026 season. Gutekunst faces some difficult decisions regarding the two receivers who are up for extensions after 2025.

General Manager Brian Gutekunst’s decisions on Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs will be difficult. While Doubs has been more consistent and productive, Watson has more athletic gifts and more potential upside but has struggled to play consistently and to stay healthy and on the field.

Gutekunst has some other young and talented receivers on the roster as well. Cap considerations could also limit how many receivers receive a second contract with the team. How well these receivers play this season will go a long way towards determining their futures.

The Return of Rodgers Results in a Packers Showdown

Every four years, the Green Bay Packers play the AFC North division. With this week’s news of Aaron Rodgers agreeing to sign with the Pittsburgh Steelers, the NFL has to be very happy that the two North divisions were scheduled to play. When the Packers travel to Pittsburgh in October, they will try to win in Pittsburgh for the first time since 1970. Since the NFL’s realignment in 2002, the Steelers are one of the teams the Packers have struggled to beat the most. In six regular-season matchups, the Steelers are 5-1, with the lone regular-season coming in 2021, a 27-17 win at Lambeau Field. Obviously there was one more win by Rodgers against the Steelers and it came in Super Bowl XLV. Rodgers played arguably one of his best games of his career, finishing with 304 yards and three touchdowns against the NFL’s best defense.

Check out exclusive Cheesehead TV merch!

Vince Lombardi Created Culture of Acceptance

Vince Lombardi is, of course, known for being one of the greatest coaches in the history of professional sports and for having his name emblazoned on the Super Bowl trophy. But every year I am surprised by how many of my high school students are unaware of another legacy of his: creating a culture free of prejudice.

There are lots of stories of Lombardi pushing back against ingrained cultures of racism while he was coaching the Packers. Green Bay was an especially difficult place for many black athletes to come to; an extremely white region that was by far the smallest city in the NFL, many Packer players would stand out like a sore thumb around town. Lombardi made it a team policy to forbid players and staff from going to any restaurant, bar, or other business that denied services to black players. He also served as a minister to offer a blessing for an interracial marriage between Lional Aldridge and his wife. And at a time when few coaches would put black men on their staff, Lombardi gave opportunities that many of them might not have received elsewhere.

During Pride Month, it's important to also remember Lombardi as an ally to the gay community at a time when being gay was considered almost unspeakably horrific. This was influenced in part by Lombardi having a gay younger brother.

The most famous example of this is a story about Lombardi saying of a gay player, "If I hear one of you people make reference to his manhood, you'll be out of here before your ass hits the ground." Others who played for and worked with Lombardi believed he knew that a couple Washington executives and players were also gay, and that Lombardi protected them.

As much as all of his victories and championships cemented his legacy, his championing of acceptance only further supports his legacy as one of the great figures in sports history.

Bo Melton goes Iron Man

Packers wide receiver Bo Melton worked with the cornerback group at the team's first minicamp practice on Tuesday. Aaron chats about what it means and everything going on at minicamp this week with Packers fans worldwide.

Packers of the Past: DuJuan Harris

One thing Green Bay Packers fans are known for is that they are capable of immediately embracing a new, unknown player. Sometimes the player doesn’t even have to stick around for long or break records – sometimes it’s about the moment, the situation, the experience. Former running back DuJuan Harris rushed for only 221 regular season yards in two stints with the Packers, but he remains endeared to fans for plenty of reasons.

@cheeseheadtv

🧀 The message to Packers WRs is clear: ❌Don’t get comfortable. 12 WRs fighting for 6 likely spots… 🚨Let the competition begin.