If it’s time to move on from Jaire Alexander, who do you want?

At the time of this article being published, our poll asking Green Bay Packers fans what you believe is the team’s biggest need going into this offseason shows that 48 percent of you are answering cornerback. With Keisean Nixon locked into an outside cornerback job and second-round pick Javon Bullard set to play the nickelback position full-time going into 2025, it’s pretty clear that fans believe that the Jaire Alexander era is over. Alexander, who has only played about half of the available games since signing his contract extension in Green Bay, commands a $16.15 million salary for the upcoming season.

The question now is what the team should do to replace Alexander. To try to resolve that, let’s review the Packers’ options as they appear today.

Cornerback Draft Prospects

The top two cornerbacks in the 2025 draft simply won’t be available for the Packers. Colorado receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter, coming off of a Heisman season, is currently ranked as the third overall player in the draft according to the consensus draft board. Michigan’s Will Johnson is ranked eighth in a class that really only has six to ten blue-chip prospects, depending on what you think about the quarterbacks, running back Ashton Jeanty and tight end Tyler Warren.

So who does that leave the Packers with in the first round? Well, let’s start with the players with injury concerns. The next two cornerbacks on the consensus draft board had season-ending injuries in 2024: Notre Dame’s Benjamin Morrison and East Carolina’s Shavon Revel Jr. Morrison injured his hip against Stanford in October while Revel tore his ACL in a September practice.

The top available cornerback for the Packers who might actually be ready to play for the team in Week 1 of the regular season is Texas’ Jahdae Barron, who won the Jim Thorpe Award in 2024 and was also named a first-team All-SEC player. At 23 years old, he’s an older draft prospect after playing all five seasons at Texas. Had it not been for Barron receiving the Covid year exemption in 2020, he would have been a member of last year’s draft class.

Below is Bleacher Report’s scouting report on Barron:

Jahdae Barron is a highly versatile defensive back with the ability to play multiple positions, including cornerback, nickel, and safety. Standing at 5’11” and 200 pounds, Barron has demonstrated the instincts and adaptability needed to contribute in almost any role within a defensive backfield. Known for his physicality, high motor, and football intelligence, Barron has shown that he can impact the game in both the run and pass game. Depending on the NFL team and scheme, his skills give him the potential to wreak havoc on the field, making him a valuable asset at the next level.

Barron hasn’t officially been measured in yet, but the Packers are known for their hard height limit for cornerbacks in the draft, a response to Ahmad Carroll busting as a first-round pick back in 2004. Hopefully, Barron comes in over 5’10”-flat in Indianapolis during the Scouting Combine in a couple of weeks.

Free Agent Cornerbacks

Based on Pro Football Focus’ early rankings, there are really six notable cornerbacks who are set to hit the open market in 2025:

• D.J. Reed – 70.7 PFF grade
• Charvarius Ward – 56.2
• Rasul Douglas – 53.9
• Carlton Davis III – 74.5
• Asante Samuel Jr. – 59.3
• Byron Murphy Jr. – 73.4

Whether or not Rasul Douglas, who was traded from the Packers to the Buffalo Bills in 2023, will be willing to return to Green Bay is up for debate. Depending on where you land on that question, this list might only be five players long.

What’s worth remembering here is that cornerbacks, like many other skill positions, tend to start falling off around 28 years old. Within that context, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Charvarius Ward and Douglas’ play started to slip this past season. Both, along with D.J. Reed and Carlton Davis III are over the 28-year-old threshold already.

Outside of Asante Samuel Jr., a 25-year-old, there aren’t many options in this cornerbacks class if you’re looking for a Josh Jacobs or an Xavier McKinney, proven starters who were also young players when they signed with the Packers as free agents. Even then, Samuel has injury questions, as he missed the majority of the 2024 season with a stinger injury. Davis, too, ended the 2024 season on the injured reserve after he fractured his jaw in Week 15 for the Lions.

Out of all of the options, my favorite is probably Minnesota Vikings cornerback Byron Murphy Jr., who earned a Pro Bowl last season and only recently turned 27 years old. It’s quite possible that the Vikings re-sign him, depending on how they choose to reshape their team this offseason. Minnesota has a lot of cap space, but they also lead the NFL in snaps that are set to leave in 2025 free agency, too. On top of that, the Vikings also only have one pick in the first four rounds of the 2025 draft because of trade-ups last season. If they let Murphy walk, there’s a real chance that they won’t be able to replace him with a starting-caliber cornerback this season. That’s one argument for why they won’t let him test the market.

These are the current contract projections for these six free-agent cornerbacks on Spotrac:

• Reed: 4 years, $58.6 million ($14.7 million average salary, CB rank: 12th)
• Ward: 3 years, $45.9 million ($15.3 million average salary, CB rank: 12th)
• Douglas: 3 years, $35.7 million ($11.9 million average salary, CB rank: 17th)
• Davis: 3 years, $41.3 million ($13.8 million average salary, CB rank: 14th)
• Samuel: 4 years, $45.9 million ($11.5 million average salary, CB rank: 17th)
• Murphy: 4 years, $88.4 million ($22.1 million average salary, CB rank: 2nd)

Now that everything is laid out, which route do you hope the Packers go at the cornerback position this offseason? For the sake of argument, we’ll throw in potentially working out a contract restructure with Jaire Alexander as an option. We’ll have two separate polls, one indicating whether you want the team to add a free agent or draft pick and another poll asking you what your preferred option is on an individual level.

Once you’re done voting, drop down to the comment section to voice your stance.