General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and the Minnesota Vikings have gone all-in this offseason, spending big in free agency to build a championship-ready roster around first-year starting quarterback J.J. McCarthy.
One more headline-grabbing signing couldn’t hurt, right?
The Vikings will soon have an opportunity to address the thinnest position on their depth chart, as the Green Bay Packers are reportedly planning to release superstar cornerback Jaire Alexander after failed contract negotiations.
Jared Dublin of CBS Sports has Minnesota among his top landing spots for the still 28-year-old Alexander, who despite a string of injury-plagued seasons earned All-Pro nods in 2020 and 2022.
“Minnesota defensive coordinator Brian Flores loves to get creative with his pressures up front, and to do that, you need extremely reliable defensive backs,” Dubin wrote. “The Vikings have been getting by with their versatile crew over the last two years, but Alexander would be an immediate upgrade on almost anybody in the secondary. Pairing him with Byron Murphy, Harrison Smith, Josh Metellus and more would make for a really interesting back end of the defense.”
Again, Minnesota’s roster stacks up with just about any team in the NFL, but after prioritizing the interior protection for McCarthy, as well as the defensive line, both in free agency and the draft, the Vikings could be playing with fire in the secondary.
Adofo-Mensah never added a replacement for departed safety Camryn Bynum. And while Byron Murphy Jr. is a versatile playmaker at corner, the team’s options on the boundary, from Isaiah Rodgers to Mekhi Blackmon and Jeff Okudah, are questionable at best.
The potential sticking points? Alexander’s recent injury history — he’s coming off a torn PCL that cut his 2024 season short — and potential contract demands. The Vikings are already among the NFL’s top spenders in free agency in 2025, so it would be hard to see the team committing significant guaranteed money at this point, especially for a veteran who’s played in just 34 of a possible 68 games since he signed his mega extension with Green Bay in March of 2022.
Any real interest from Minnesota’s side would likely come down to Alexander’s market. If he has to settle for a one-year prove-it deal (similar to the one he reportedly turned down from Green Bay), it might be worth the Vikings’ while, not only because of the roster need but to block other contenders like Philadelphia and Detroit from swiping Alexander’s services on a discount.
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