Green Bay Packers v Chicago Bears | Kevin Sabitus/GettyImages

Jaire Alexander’s absence will extend to six consecutive games in Week 17. The Green Bay Packers have ruled out their All-Pro cornerback for Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings.

It leaves fans wondering what’s next. Despite participating fully in practice in recent weeks, Alexander hasn’t played.

The Packers surprisingly didn’t place Alexander on injured reserve after he suffered a knee injury in the win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 8. He has only played 10 snaps since, which came in the first quarter against the Chicago Bears in Week 11.

He has now missed both games against the Vikings and Detroit Lions.

When healthy, Alexander is still an All-Pro. Per Pro Football Reference, quarterbacks have completed just 56.7 percent of passes in his coverage this season, with Alexander defending seven passes and intercepting two.

The issue is that he can’t stay healthy. Including this week’s game, Alexander has played just 34 of 67 games over the past four seasons, which is a little over half.

Has Jaire Alexander played his final snap for the Packers?

After Alexander was ruled out for Week 17, Peter Bukowski of the Locked on Packers podcast raised a great point.

“I think non-zero chance we never see Alexander play another snap as a Packer,” Bukowski wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

He’s not alone in thinking that. While the Packers could be taking the cautious approach to ensure Alexander is 100 percent for the playoffs, we don’t know that. What if he can’t play again this season? He logged two full practices in Week 15 and three in Week 16 (and he was questionable with a chance to play).

However, this week, Alexander went from full practice to limited to not participating. His practice status got worse each day and he was ruled out on Friday. Last week, the Packers gave him a questionable status.

If he can’t play again this season, then what? The Packers would’ve had their All-Pro available for fewer than half of their games over a four-year period. It would be difficult to enter 2025 with belief Alexander can be their every-week CB1 when he has struggled to stay healthy. The best ability is availability.

Could the Packers hit the reset button at cornerback? They took the same approach at safety this past offseason and tight end last year. Eric Stokes is a free agent and also faces an uncertain future.

Per Over The Cap, Alexander’s cap hit rises to $25.4 million in 2025 and then to $27.4 million in 2026. Moving on via trade or release would only save $7.3 million on next year’s cap, but it would provide significant savings in 2026.

Nobody wants that to happen, and it would only increase the Packers’ urgency to add reinforcements at cornerback. But with Alexander missing more games than he has played for the third time in four seasons, the Packers have to think about what comes next.