This offseason, the Green Bay Packers made the polarizing decision to release star corner Jaire Alexander.

Despite Alexander still playing at an elite level, and the Packers not doing much to replace him at corner, the franchise entered the offseason with the goal of moving on from the veteran. The reason why was that Green Bay wasn’t comfortable paying his salary, considering his struggles with injuries in recent years. Now, just one week into training camp, it seems like the Packers made the right decision.

Following his release, Alexander quickly signed with the Baltimore Ravens. Unfortunately, the corner is already missing practice.

On Monday, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh announced Alexander would miss Monday’s practice after having his knee drained because of some swelling. While Baltimore expects him to be back on the field Tuesday, Green Bay can point to this as a reason he’s no longer with the team.

Jaire Alexander missing Ravens practice is exactly why Packers moved on

To be fair to Alexander, this is just some training camp swelling, and he’s currently only expected to miss one day of practice. He could very well remain healthy for the rest of the season and not miss a single game — the Ravens would certainly love for that to be the case. However, Green Bay wasn’t comfortable taking that gamble with the size of his contract.

Alexander has played 14 total games in the last two years combined, seven in 2023 and seven in 2024. Prior to his release from the Packers, the corner had a $24.64 million cap hit in 2025 and a $27.02 million cap hit in 2026. With Alexander spending more time off the field than on it in the last two years, Green Bay just couldn’t justify paying him that much.

No other team could either, and that’s why the Packers’ attempt to trade him was unsuccessful. Ultimately, he signed a team-friendly, one-year deal with Baltimore worth $4 million. Alexander was a low-risk move for the Ravens, but he’ll have to be on the field for Baltimore to get a high reward.