The Green Bay Packers shockingly parted ways with cornerback Jaire Alexander early in the offseason. This was the culmination of a months-long back-and-forth between him and the team, making for a bittersweet ending to a successful, albeit flawed, stint in the Green and Gold.
Alexander quickly found a home with the Baltimore Ravens, and he was thought to be a missing piece for a team looking to get over a Kansas City Chiefs-sized hump in the AFC. But he's been anything but that for John Harbaugh's team through the first two months of the season.
After a disastrous performance in Week 1 against the Buffalo Bills that essentially cost the Ravens the game, Alexander was sidelined for a month before returning in Week 5. Of course, Baltimore was blown out in this contest, and Alexander started a fight late in the game despite a lopsided score.
Jaire Alexander made healthy scratch for Ravens' TNF bout with Dolphins
In Week 6, Alexander returned to the sidelines for another few weeks, and fans weren't clear on what was keeping him off the field. But in Week 9, things went from bad to worse for the former Packer, as he was officially made a healthy scratch for Thursday Night Football against the Miami Dolphins.
Baltimore's two worst defensive performances of the 2025 NFL season have come with Alexander in the lineup, and while the unit hasn't exactly flourished without him, they took a step in the right direction last week against the Chicago Bears.
It seems like Harbaugh and Co. are making the executive decision to keep Alexander off the field to keep up this positive momentum, making the veteran cornerback seem like part of the problem more than the solution.
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This is an interesting twist of fate for the former All-Pro, but yet again, availability, or a lack thereof, was always his biggest knock as a Packer. He missed a game in every season but one in Green Bay, which included just 34 appearances in his last four campaigns.
From a pure ability standpoint, perhaps some Packers fans would like him back. Free-agent signing Nate Hobbs hasn't been all that he was billed to be coming from the Las Vegas Raiders, and Keisean Nixon's strong play to begin the year has tapered off.
But Alexander's being named a healthy scratch for the Ravens as they look to build momentum is emblematic of the former first-round pick at this stage of his career. Talented, highly-regarded, but ultimately ineffective due to a magnet that seemingly keeps pulling him toward the sideline.