Packers' Love: 'We need' Jaire Alexander back

Quarterback Jordan Love is hopeful that the Green Bay Packers' front office will retain cornerback Jaire Alexander.

"(Alexander's) definitely a player we need back. Just the play style he plays with ... Who he is on the field. I mean, that's a guy we need to have around," Love said Thursday on "Up & Adams."

Love added that while he hasn't spoken to the Alexander yet, losing the cornerback would affect locker room morale, as well as the team's overall performance on the field.

"I'm hoping Ja's still there with us, we'll see. But that's my guy right there," Love said.

The Packers are reportedly committed to trading Alexander for a draft pick, and they almost negotiated a deal to send the cornerback to an undisclosed team in March, sources told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Tom Silverstein. The cornerback currently has two years left on a four-year, $84-million contract.

Alexander has only played seven games in each of the last two campaigns due to injuries. The 28-year-old recorded 16 tackles and two interceptions in 2024 before being sidelined for most of the season with a PCL tear.

"I know (Alexander's injuries have) been really, really frustrating for not only him as a player, but us as a club," Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said in January, per NFL.com's Eric Edholm. "When you have a player who's done what he's done for us in the past, and then not being able to get him out on the field consistently, that's tough. That's tough on the player. That's tough on the organization."

Alexander was the Packers' first-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. The Louisville product has been one of the team's go-to cornerbacks, tallying 287 combined tackles and 12 interceptions over seven seasons. Alexander was a Pro Bowler and second-team All-Pro in 2020 and 2022.