Stealing Aaron Jones away from the Green Bay Packers paid off for the Minnesota Vikings last season. Minnesota’s front office could be tempted to pull off the same trick this offseason. Jaire Alexander could be an intriguing cornerback target for the team if Green Bay decides to cut him in the coming weeks.
Alexander can play at a Pro Bowl level when healthy, but his lack of availability over the last two seasons has been a huge issue for the Packers defense. The 28-year-old defensive back has only played in seven regular season games in each of the past two years for Green Bay.
The Vikings certainly project to have a profound need at corner heading into their 2025 campaign. Byron Murphy, Stephen Gilmore, Foster Moreau and Shaq Griffin could all leave Minnesota in free agency. The franchise is interested in locking up Murphy to a long-term deal but there’s no guarantee they will outbid the competition for his services on the open market.
Alexander will not command a massive salary if the Packers do make him available but he will not sign a bargain deal either. It’s hard to envision a scenario where he signs a contract with the Vikings that pays him less than $8-10 million per season. That sort of deal would eat up a significant amount of the team’s cap space.
One potential ramification of signing Alexander for the Vikings is that it would almost certainly take them out of contention to bring quarterback Sam Darnold. He is arguably the top signal-caller who might hit free agency this offseason. Stealing the Packers cornerback would hand the starting job to J.J. McCarthy next year for the Vikings.
Weakening the Packers by signing Alexander might appeal to the Vikings on several levels, but they need to fully consider how that transaction might impact their overall offseason. Signing an injury-prone quarterback might not be worth sacrificing the team’s starting quarterback from last season. An Alexander for Darnold trade might benefit Green Bay more than Minnesota.
