On Monday morning, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that the Green Bay Packers are releasing two-time Pro Bowl CB Jaire Alexander. That’s one less quality cornerback for the Packers when the Pittsburgh Steelers host them later this season.
Alexander’s release also means there is a new cornerback on the free-agent market. And the Steelers have spent time looking for a quality option opposite Joey Porter Jr. Last year, it was Donte Jackson. This year, they signed former Philadelphia Eagles CB Darius Slay to help bolster their secondary.
And it’s Slay’s presence that gives insider Ray Fittipaldo pause about the Steelers pursuing Jaire Alexander.
“Maybe it would make sense if Slay wasn’t here and you weren’t paying him 10 million dollars,” Fittipaldo said Monday on the North Shore Drive podcast. “But the fact that you have Slay on board, you’ve got Joey Porter, I just don’t know how and where Alexander would fit in.”
The Steelers signed Slay to a fully guaranteed $10 million deal in free agency. So, they’re locked into that contract with the 34-year-old Slay. Adding Jaire Alexander, who turned 28 earlier this year, would require the Steelers to invest a lot of money in the cornerback position in one offseason.
And if the Steelers chose to spend that extra money on Jaire Alexander, potentially a one-year prove-it deal (or perhaps a longer-term contract), how would they juggle the snaps? Because neither Alexander nor Slay are slot corners. Alexander took 14 snaps aligned in the slot in 2024; Slay took five.
Does that mean that the Steelers won’t consider upgrading the cornerback position for the long term? As I noted, Jaire Alexander just turned 28 this year. He’s six years younger than Slay. And the Steelers would love to have a long-term solution opposite Porter rather than addressing it with one-year contracts to older veterans every offseason.
But the problem with Jaire Alexander is his inability to stay healthy. He hasn’t appeared in more than seven games in three of the last four seasons. So, it would be hard for the Steelers to sign him to more than a one-year prove-it deal. The potential is there, as 12 interceptions and 70 passes knocked down in his career show. But he just hasn’t been able to stay on the field. That’s why the Packers released him.
Meanwhile, Darius Slay has never played fewer than 12 games in a season in his 12-year career. Despite Slay’s age, it’s hard to imagine the Steelers pursuing Jaire Alexander due to the injury concerns.
