Will Jaire Alexander play for the Packers again? GM Brian Gutekunst on that and more

Sports

add

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Elgton Jenkins has made two Pro Bowls for the Packers at left guard in his six seasons, but the 29-year-old won’t be playing there anymore.

Green Bay signed former 49ers left guard Aaron Banks in free agency, so Jenkins, a 2019 second-round pick, is moving to center. According to Pro Football Focus, Jenkins has played 369 snaps at center in his career, 297 of which came in 2020. He started one game at center last season when Josh Myers was injured. Jenkins also played center at Mississippi State.

“We feel he’s got a chance to be an All-Pro center,” Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said on Monday at the NFL owners’ meetings. “We’ve talked about it a lot, how versatility plays into our offensive line and having guys that can move to different spots, and Elgton’s one of those guys who can play all five spots, so he’s a luxury. But I’m excited to see what he can do at center, as well.”

Jenkins has two seasons left on a contract extension he signed in 2022. He’s the league’s fifth-highest-paid left guard in average annual salary ($17 million), according to Over The Cap, with Banks at No. 3 ($19.25 million). This positional move may cost him money on his next deal, though, since the median average annual salary of the 10 highest-paid left guards is $16.3 million and the median average annual salary of the 10 highest-paid centers is $10.9 million.

When asked if Jenkins was against the move because of that, Gutekunst shook his head.

“I would never talk about any conversations we have with any of our players on contracts and things like that, but obviously, he’s one of the higher-paid guys in the league for a reason,” Gutekunst said. “Because he’s a really good player and I think moving to center for him was something he always kinda thought about in his career at some point, and we’re excited to see what he could do for us.”

Here are other notable takeaways from Gutekunst’s session with local reporters on Monday.

Alexander’s future

Two-time All-Pro cornerback Jaire Alexander is still with the Packers. For now. The team is open to trading the 28-year-old but has yet to do so with the draft in Green Bay less than a month away.

Alexander has the third-highest cap hit on the team this year behind quarterback Jordan Love and defensive end Rashan Gary, but Alexander has played in only 16 of a potential 37 games the last two seasons because of four different injuries and a one-game suspension.

Gutekunst said he talks with Alexander’s agent, John Thornton of Roc Nation, weekly about Alexander’s situation. Trading or releasing Alexander before June 1 would free up about $6.9 million in cap space, while doing so after June 1 would free up about $17.1 million, according to OTC.

“We invested a lot in Jaire and want to make sure, if he’s not gonna be on our football team helping us win games, that we get something back for that investment,” Gutekunst said. “So we’ll see where it goes, but again, working with (Thornton) weekly and trying to figure out what’s best for both Jaire and the Packers.”

Gutekunst was asked about Alexander potentially being on the team for the 2025 season and said, “It could be a possibility, absolutely. But again, I think we’re in the middle of that right now,” while adding he’s hopeful for a resolution before next month’s draft.

Brian Gutekunst on Jaire Alexander: “We have some time here to kind of figure that out and see what’s best for him and for the organization.”

On Alexander potentially remaining a Packer: “It could be a possibility. Absolutely.”

Hopeful to have a resolution before the draft. pic.twitter.com/9tDKvnYr3x

— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) March 31, 2025

Urgency?

Here is part of a quote from Gutekunst at his season-ending press conference in January: “The thing that’s been on my mind as we concluded this season is we need to continue to ramp up our sense of urgency … ​​I think it’s time we started competing for championships, right?”

Gutekunst also added that day that the team was in its best cap situation in two or three years. Those two statements combined could reasonably convince someone that the Packers were about to be an offseason headliner, perhaps making a splash trade, marquee free-agent signing or both.

They weren’t dormant over the last couple weeks — they signed Banks, cornerback Nate Hobbs and wide receiver Mecole Hardman and retained several of their own key players, among other moves — but fans seem to have wanted more after Gutekunst’s “urgency” comment with the Packers needing to bridge the gap between them and the NFC’s elite teams that beat them last season.

“I think the urgency comment is really more for our team, our organization to understand what the expectations are,” Gutekunst said. “At the same time, for us, I think we were very urgent in free agency. Obviously we went after a couple top targets. We were able to acquire them and I think that really is going to help our football team. The urgency comment is across the board. I think it’s for our players, it’s for our organization in how we’re going to approach things.”

As for the Packers’ approach in free agency …

“Every free-agent class is different,” Gutekunst said. “You have to be honest with yourselves about it. You can’t just go chasing after things and try to create stuff. We very much felt the targets that we targeted were the ones worth targeting. Again, I think we were 10th in the league in free-agency spending this offseason, something like that. So I thought we were pretty aggressive and were able to acquire guys pretty early. But every year is unique with the free-agency class and I think it’s just a matter of how you evaluate that.”

Scouting reports on free-agent signings

Gutekunst on Hobbs: “We’ve kinda had our eye on Nate for a couple years now. (Director of pro personnel) Richmond Williams on our pro (scouting) staff does a great job and has been pushing (for him). We just really thought he’s a really versatile all-around corner, can do everything. We really like his ability to play on the outside, which he hasn’t done a ton of, but the ability to move him inside and match different receivers and his play style, I think, is one of the things that really stood out to all of us. Really, really excited to see what he’s going to do for us this year.”

On Banks: “Obviously, a really large man that can do all the things that Matt (LaFleur) asks those guys to do in our scheme as far as our ability to get off the ball quickly, get out in space and really run. Again, this isn’t a 295-pound man. This is a 330-pound man. His ability to play physical in the run game and anchor down in the pass pro is something where he’s played at a high level for a few years now and to get a guy like that really in the prime of his career is something I thought would really benefit us.”

On Hardman: “I do (think he can help at returner), absolutely, both as a punt returner and a kick returner. He’s a little bit more experienced in the punt return game than the kick return game, but he can do both. He’s obviously going to add some speed to our football team. He’s been in big games and played well in big games. He’s been hampered by some injuries along the way, but when he’s healthy, he’s certainly an impactful player.”

Notables

1. Last year’s first-round pick, Jordan Morgan, primarily worked at right guard last season, but Gutekunst said he’ll “certainly get a shot” at left tackle in 2025. On incumbent left tackle Rasheed Walker, Gutekunst said, “I think Rasheed’s done a lot of really, really good things for us … We’re going to have a lot of competition there. Not just at his spot, but all across the offensive line. We’ve got guys like Jordan Morgan, who I think is going to really emerge. It will be good to see that competition and we’ll be better for it.”

2. Fans won’t like this answer, but Gutekunst thinks they have the right pass rushers already.

“I think we can do everything we need to do with the players we have on our roster right now,” Gutekunst said. “I think there’s a significant amount of improvement for those guys, not only in Year 2 of a scheme but just individually, as well. We’ve invested in that quite a bit already and I’m excited to see the growth that those guys will have. If the draft happens to bring us some more ammunition in that caliber, great, but I don’t think it’s something that’s necessary that we’ll have to go chase.”

Brian Gutekunst on his edge rusher group after what he called an “inconsistent” season rushing the passer:

“We can do everything we need to do through the players we have on our roster right now.” pic.twitter.com/Jb9WIUaYNo

— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) March 31, 2025

3. Wide receiver Christian Watson is expected to miss at least the first half of the season recovering from a torn ACL suffered in Week 18, but Gutekunst still expects him to play a significant role next season.

“I wouldn’t count him out just because I know his work ethic and how he approaches things,” Gutekunst said. “Certainly, it won’t shock me at all if he’s a big factor for us this season, but at the same time, as you said, we have to make sure we’re protecting him.”

4. The Packers’ first move of free agency was to re-sign linebacker and special teams ace Isaiah McDuffie, who played for defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley when he was the head coach at Boston College. New Packers linebackers coach Sean Duggan was also McDuffie’s linebackers coach at BC.

“From the day we’ve had Isaiah, he’s done everything that we would ask for as far as the way he handles himself,” Gutekunst said. “He’s been an elite special teams player from the beginning, certainly started a lot of games at linebacker for us, so I just thought as we were talking, that that made a lot of sense to bring him back. He’s just a glue guy, does everything the right way and again, when you have a player of his caliber who’s been an elite teams player and really performed very well every time you put him on the field on defense, it just made sense.”

(Photo: Johnnie Izquierdo / Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

Share on

email

Previous

trending_flat

“Corberán será recordado como el que obró el milagro de Mestalla”

Carlos Corberán

Next

trending_flat

Edu Dracena indica demissão de técnico no Brasileirão: “Questão de tempo”

Futebol