The 2025 NFL Draft is officially less than a week away. The Green Bay Packers are heavily depending on using the draft they are hosting to leap from a winning 2024 campaign to true contention in 2025. General manager Brian Gutekunst will likely focus on the clear trio of premium positions that are looking shaky: wide receiver, edge rusher, and cornerback.
Gutekunst has been predictably unpredictable in the first round. He’s had a preference for defensive specimens out of the University of Georgia and maintained the streak of no Day 1 wideouts since 2002. His first draft selection after succeeding Ted Thompson in 2018 also came when the Packers desperately needed help on the defensive perimeter.
He got it with a flamboyant, confident cornerback out of Louisville.
The Packers could work things out with Jaire Alexander
Seven years later, arguably the biggest elephant in the room is what happens to cornerback Jaire Alexander. After asserting himself as a top shutdown corner in the league, Alexander has recently struggled to stay on the field. In addition to a series of injuries, he had a one-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the team, fueling speculation that his bold and bright personality wasn’t the best long-term fit with a storied, traditionalist organization like Green Bay.
As it stands, Gutekunst and the front office have telegraphed their intention of moving on, whether via trade or release. They reportedly have not budged on their asking price on the open market, and the delay has led fans and some media to suggest the two sides may not be headed for divorce after all.
Perhaps the biggest argument for keeping Alexander is the alternative: a cornerback room led by Keisean Nixon, Nate Hobbs, and Carrington Valentine.
That isn’t a group that would be well-positioned to take on Justin Jefferson, D.J. Moore, and Amon-Ra St. Brown in the NFC North, nor A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith elsewhere in the conference. That opens the door for a conversation about what moves can get the position ready for a serious postseason run in Jordan Love’s third season under center.
Jalen Ramsey is an option
With free agency pretty much in the can, the trade market is the only serious option to land an experienced veteran capable of locking down No. 1s and leading the room. The messy irony of replacing an existing one, Alexander, with another isn’t lost on me. Still, there might be room in between the team’s frustration with Alexander’s availability and personality issues and their knowledge that they can’t go into the season without a talent like his.
Here’s where it gets interesting: Miami Dolphins general manager Chris Grier openly admitted they are shopping star cornerback Jalen Ramsey. An acquiring team would take on a $16.67 million cap hit. That clears the $7.6 million Green Bay will save by cutting or trading Alexander before June 1, but the team has a ton of cap flexibility now that they have cleared their books post-Rodgers.
That number will also ensure Ramsey fields minimal draft capital in return, similar to his departure from Los Angeles. Does it make sense to swap Alexander for Ramsey? Is his injury history really that much better? Is his personality and leadership that much more fitting? No, no, and no.
The move would also be highly out of character.
However, they have a legitimate window here with the young pieces that have come into place around Love and the key veterans they brought in last offseason in Josh Jacobs and Xavier McKinney. The Packers should at least consider any move.
They could also draft a corner with upside
The third option would be through the draft itself. Picking 23rd overall, the Packers aren’t in range to snipe an elite, plug-and-play cornerback like Sauce Gardner or Denzel Ward. The odds decrease exponentially that far down the board, and trading up aggressively at the top isn’t something we have seen out of Gutekunst.
The Athletic’s Dane Brugler, a renowned draft analyst, put forth a scenario where they might be able to get a guy while staying put at 23. Brugler’s second-ranked cornerback, Michigan’s Will Johnson, is one of the marquee players in the class and has at no point been thought to be in play for the Packers.
However, as Brugler explained:
[He] might still be on the board in the 20s. … He declined to run the 40-yard dash at his pro day and the medicals will be a factor for several teams, but the tape shows a really good football player. Johnson, a two-time All-American, is a guy who does have the pedigree to start Week 1 and the upside to transform that cornerback room.
The Packers will almost have their entire roster set in a little over a week. It’s a scary thought given how much uncertainty remains at crucial positions. At the cornerback position, things are looking to get even more precarious with Alexander’s likely departure. Heading into the season with just Nixon, Hobbs, and Valentine would feel like depending on hope.
Three unlikely plans would supplement them with one clear alpha: working out a resolution with Alexander, acquiring Ramsey, or finding a way to draft the falling Johnson. Regardless of which direction they go, there will surely be fireworks at Lambeau in less than a week, and we will finally see what Gutekunst has been cooking.
