Jaire Alexander to Brandon McManus: Which free agents should Packers keep or let go?​on February 15, 2025 at 12:36 pm

GREEN BAY, Wis. — There are no easy offseasons in the NFL. For the Green Bay Packers, however, when it comes to tough decisions about whether to keep, cut or restructure veterans with high-priced contracts, while also re-signing their own free agents, this one should not be overly taxing.

When it comes to re-signing any of the Packers’ 11 impending unrestricted free agents, the closest thing general manager Brian Gutekunst has to a must is kicker Brandon McManus, whose midseason addition stabilized a position that had been in flux since they moved on from Mason Crosby after the 2022 season.

The rest — from center Josh Myers to defensive contributors, such as tackle T.J. Slaton and linebackers Isaiah McDuffie and Eric Wilson — could be considered luxuries.

And then there’s cornerback Jaire Alexander, the two-time All-Pro, who would make $17.5 million if he’s on the team next season.

Here’s a look at the key decisions Gutekunst must make early in this offseason. They fit into four categories: let go/release, re-sign cheap, possibly re-sign at the right price, and must re-sign.

Let go/release

There are strong indications that Alexander’s time with the Packers will end without him playing another down. Multiple team sources have privately expressed their frustration with Alexander’s inability to stay healthy and/or play through injuries.

For the second straight season, Alexander appeared in seven of 17 regular-season games. He did not play after Nov. 17 — despite practicing on a semi-regular basis — went on injured reserve the final week of the season and underwent knee surgery on what he said was a torn PCL. Still, he finished second on the team in pass breakups (seven) and tied for second in interceptions (two).

The 2018 first-round pick has two years remaining on the four-year, $84 million contract extension that made him the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL at the time. The Packers would pick up nearly $6.8 million in salary cap space for 2025 if they release him (or more than $17 million if they designate him a post-June 1 cut).

Publicly, Gutekunst was noncommittal about Alexander’s future shortly after the season.

“I know it’s been really, really frustrating for not only him as a player, but us as a club,” Gutekunst said. “When you have a player who’s done what he’s done for us in the past, and then not being able to get him out on the field consistently, that’s tough. You know it’s tough on the player, tough on the organization.”

Alexander declined to speak with reporters on the last day of availability at the end of the season, saying he had “nothing good to say” and that he did not know if he would be back with the team in 2025.

On the same day, Keisean Nixon was lobbying to be the No. 1 cornerback, a job Alexander held when available.

Fellow first-round cornerback Eric Stokes also could be looking for work elsewhere. He hasn’t returned to the form he had during his rookie season, following multiple injury-filled seasons. He had 14 pass breakups and an interception as a rookie in 2021. In three seasons since then, he played 1,175 snaps over 29 games without a single pass breakup or interception.

Veteran offensive tackle Andre Dillard was signed last offseason to a one-year, $1.25 million contract and played only 13 offensive snaps.

It’s unclear whether running back AJ Dillon, who missed all of last season because of a neck injury, has been cleared to return, but the Packers liked what they got from Chris Brooks and Emanuel Wilson as backups to Josh Jacobs. They also have high hopes for 2024 third-round pick MarShawn Lloyd, who played only 10 offensive snaps as a rookie.

Re-sign cheap

This group includes three core special-teamers who have had backup roles: defensive backs Corey Ballentine and Robert Rochell, along with tight end Tyler Davis.

Davis, who was a favorite of special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia, hasn’t played in a regular-season game since the 2022 season after he suffered a serious knee injury in a 2023 preseason game and a serious shoulder injury last summer.

Ballentine has played in 37 games with seven starts at cornerback since he joined the Packers in 2022, while Rochell has played in 20 games over the past two seasons.

If re-signed, all three would likely get a veterans minimum contract.

Possibly re-sign

This is where the decisions get a little more difficult.

Myers has started all 56 games he’s played in since the Packers picked the center in the second round of the 2021 draft. A long-time NFL offensive line coach said the value of the center-quarterback relationship should not be underestimated. A year ago, the Packers let guard Jon Runyan Jr. leave in free agency, and Runyan got $10 million a year from the Giants. Myers would likely cost at least that much.

The Packers drafted a center, Jacob Monk, in the fifth round last year, but he did not play a snap on offense as a rookie. It’s not out of the question the Packers could move Zach Tom from right tackle to center, especially if they want last year’s first-round pick Jordan Morgan to play tackle. However, Zach has established himself as a top-level right tackle and would want to be paid as such.

Slaton was one of the keys to the Packers’ resurgent run defense, which ranked seventh in rushing yards allowed in 2024. He’s not a full-time, three-down player and ranks No. 3, at best, on the defensive tackle depth behind Kenny Clark and Devonte Wyatt.

Linebackers Isaiah McDuffie and Eric Wilson combined to play more than 1,200 snaps last season, and defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley raved about how well both fit into his scheme. But the Packers need to get Edgerrin Cooper more involved after a stellar rookie season in a part-time role, which means the Packers might be reluctant to re-sign both of them given they also have Quay Walker back. Wilson, an eight-year veteran, was on a one-year deal that contained only a $167,500 signing bonus, while McDuffie has come to the end of his rookie contract.

Must re-sign

McManus’ arrival in October turned around the Packers’ dreadful kicking game.

After 16 years with Mason Crosby, the Packers cycled through Anders Carlson in 2023 and Brayden Narveson in early 2024. Those two combined to miss 18 field goals and extra points in 25 games, including in the playoffs.

McManus made 50 of 51 field goal and extra point attempts in 11 regular-season games with the Packers. Although he missed a short field goal in the playoff loss to the Eagles, he showed no signs that he has lost anything at age 33. He came cheap last season (veterans minimum) because he was coming off an NFL personal conduct policy investigation, which resulted in no penalty. Before that, he had signed for $3.6 million with the Commanders, who released him before he ever kicked for them.

“If we were able to get Brandon back, I think certainly that would make me feel very, very, very good about that [specialist] group,” Gutekunst said.