The 7-3 Green Bay Packers are fighting for their playoff lives in a competitive NFC North, and that fight will be more difficult following the latest Jaire Alexander injury update. The star cornerback battled through a knee injury the past few weeks, but a recent report from Matt Schneidman of The Athletic could miss several weeks of action with a PCL tear.
A first-round pick in the 20218 NFL Draft, Jaire Alexander has blossomed into one of the league’s better cornerbacks when healthy. A two-time Pro Bowl selection and two-time Second-Team All-Pro, Alexander is one of the most important players on a defense that shares a division with two of the best offenses in football. Scheidman’s report does not give a specific timeline for Jaire Alexander to return from injury, so Green Bay could turn to the free agent market to find a short-term answer.
As is normally the case by late November, most of the good free agents have already found new teams. However, four-time Pro Bowler Xavien Howard is still available and recently worked out for some teams. The Packers could take a shot on the veteran, but only if they can sign him before the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens go after him.
Packers Could Steal Top Free Agent After Jaire Alexander Injury
The Kansas City Chiefs are one of the best teams in football, but they’re not as good as their 9-1 record suggests. Currently 7-0 in one-score games, Kansas City must improve their roster to increase their odds of becoming the first team to win three consecutive Super Bowls in as many seasons. While they already addressed two needs with the DeAndre Hopkins trade and Josh Uche acquisition, they could use another cornerback.
Former first-round pick Trent McDuffie remains one of the best in the league, but he can’t cover the entire field all by himself. Fourth-round pick Jaylen Watson did a remarkable job filling in for the departed L’Jarius Sneed, but he suffered an ankle injury of his own. Xavien Howard is easily the best free agent left on the open market, and the Chiefs must hurry to sign him before the Packers can. While Kansas City hasn’t made a move to replace Watson, the Jaire Alexander injury could increase Howard’s value and force the Chiefs to take action.
Fixing Baltimore’s Secondary
Pittsburgh’s loss to the Cleveland Browns gives the Baltimore Ravens a shot of winning the AFC North, but they must fix the secondary to reach their full potential. The Ravens added Tre’Davious White at the trade deadline, and the early returns are promising. Last week, the former All-Pro finished the game with an 83.4 PFF coverage grade, the best mark on the team. Perhaps White re-discovered his old form, but this was probably just a fluke.
White was one of the NFL’s worst cornerbacks with the Los Angeles Rams and 14 impressive snaps against the Steelers shouldn’t dramatically change anyone’s illusions about his present-day abilities. Perhaps he can keep this up and the Ravens catch lightning in a bottle, but Baltimore should at least kick the tires on Howard in the likely scenario where White regresses to his previous form. Much like White, Howard isn’t the player he used to be, but you can’t have too many cornerbacks when you share a conference with Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen.
Main Photo: Mark Hoffman – USA Today Sports
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