{"id":221435,"date":"2025-07-20T07:10:16","date_gmt":"2025-07-20T07:10:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/221435\/"},"modified":"2025-07-20T07:10:16","modified_gmt":"2025-07-20T07:10:16","slug":"jayden-reeds-role-elgton-jenkins-contract-jaire-alexanders-future-in-unusual-offseason-packers-seem-to-be-facing-more-drama-than-theyre-accustomed-to-green-ba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/221435\/","title":{"rendered":"Jayden Reed\u2019s role? Elgton Jenkins\u2019 contract? Jaire Alexander\u2019s future? In unusual offseason, Packers seem to be facing more drama than they\u2019re accustomed to | Green Bay Packers with Jason Wilde"},"content":{"rendered":"

GREEN BAY \u2014 We have not yet reached the point where it feels like head coach Matt LaFleur needs to channel his inner Vince Lombardi and shout, \u201cWhat the hell\u2019s going on out here?!<\/a>\u201d at the top of his lungs, the way the Green Bay Packers legend once famously did on a frigid sideline during a game against the Minnesota Vikings.<\/p>\n

But there has seemingly been more drama this offseason than the Packers typically have to endure, and it\u2019s worth wondering what might be happening with a team that normally steers clear of such issues\u2014or at least manages to keep them from spilling out into the public eye.<\/p>\n

The latest situation came to light Monday evening, when ESPN\u2019s Adam Schefter reported that general manager Brian Gutekunst met with wide receiver Jayden Reed\u2019s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, last week to \u201cclarify the wide receiver\u2019s status in Green Bay\u201d after the team selected two wide receivers \u2014 Texas\u2019 Matthew Golden in the first round and TCU\u2019s Savion Williams in the third round.<\/p>\n

Citing a source, Schefter reported that the team reassured Reed\u2019s camp that the Golden and Williams selections \u201cit will not affect Reed\u2019s status as its top receiver.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reed, a 2023 second-round pick, has led the Packers in both receptions and receiving yardage each of his first two seasons. He caught 64 passes for 793 yards and eight touchdowns on 94 targets as a rookie; he had 55 receptions for 857 yards and six touchdowns on 75 targets last season.<\/p>\n

Reed also tied with Dontayvion Wicks for the team lead in dropped passes (nine), and after a strong start, Reed disappeared down the stretch, managing 11 catches for 164 yards and no touchdowns over the final five games, which LaFleur attributed to Reed being \u201ca little bit banged up<\/a>\u201d late in the year.<\/p>\n

Reed has apparently been in attendance for the team\u2019s offseason program, but he has had a few cryptic social media posts since the draft and also took to X after running back Josh Jacobs said during Super Bowl week that the team needed to add a bona fide No. 1 wide receiver.<\/p>\n

Asked about Reed during a Q&A session with reporters on Monday, offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said Reed \u201clooks great. He looks like the same Jayden \u2014 fast, explosive, smile on his face.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked what happened to Reed in the final weeks of the 2024 season, Stenavich replied, \u201cI think maybe he just got worn out. A lot of hits. I know he had that shoulder injury in the last game, obviously. But he looks great now.\u201d<\/p>\n

But whatever issues there might have been with Reed are not the only ones, apparently.<\/p>\n

Left guard-turned-center Elgton Jenkins has not been taking part in the offseason program, and although Stenavich said Jenkins\u2019 absence is not related to his shift to center for the 2025 season \u2014 \u201cThe conversations that we\u2019ve had with him \u2026 he was open to it, excited about it,\u201d Stenavich said \u2014 one league source said Jenkins, while being OK with the move to center, is looking to have his contract reworked in the wake of his position change.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not here for other reasons than that,\u201d Stenavich said of the move.<\/p>\n

Jenkins has two years remaining on the four-year, $68 million extension he signed in December 2022, but there\u2019s no guaranteed money left on the deal.<\/p>\n

Jenkins, who is set to turn 30 on Dec. 26, has an $11.7 million base salary for 2025 (with a $17.6 million salary-cap number) and an $18.5 million base salary for 2026 (with a $24.5 million salary-cap charge), which puts him in a difficult spot.<\/p>\n

On the one hand, the Packers have been reluctant to pay players who have reached their 30th birthday a third contract, and with a high salary-cap number for 2026, he could be a candidate for being released if his move to center isn\u2019t a smooth one.<\/p>\n

At the same time, Gutekunst praised Jenkins earlier this offseason and said that team believes he has \u201ca chance to be an All-Pro center<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jenkins was also involved in a dispute in which police were called to an Atlanta club earlier this month, according to TMZ<\/a>. Jenkins was neither arrested nor cited in the incident.<\/p>\n

Then, there\u2019s the curious case of two-time All-Pro cornerback Jaire Alexander, who remains on the roster \u2014 even after Gutekunst publicly mused about trading him during the NFL Meetings<\/a> in March \u2014 but has not been taking part in the team\u2019s on-field work this offseason.<\/p>\n

After the NFL Draft wrapped up late last month, Gutekunst told reporters that there were \u201cno updates\u201d on Alexander\u2019s status other than that Alexander \u201cis on our roster right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like Jenkins, Alexander has two years left on the four-year, $84 million extension he signed in October 2022. He has been in limbo since the end of the season<\/a>, when he proclaimed at locker clean-out day that \u201cI don\u2019t even know if I\u2019ll be here next year.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Monday, Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, one of Alexander\u2019s most vocal supporters last season, declined to address his status, saying he wanted to \u201csee what happens rather than talk in any hypotheticals.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Packers and Alexander\u2019s agent have reportedly been working on a restructured contract that would reduce his $24.6 million cap number and $16.15 million base salary this season while also giving him the chance to recoup any pay cut through playing-time incentives.<\/p>\n

Over the past four seasons, Alexander has missed 34 of the Packers\u2019 68 regular-season games and played in 34 of them. He\u2019s missed 10 games in three of the past four seasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cI respect the question, and I hope you respect my answer on that one,\u201d Hafley said. \u201cWhenever everything pans out and we figure out who’s here, we will do the very best we can to put them in great positions and making plays. And when I find out, we’ll do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u200bCOPYRIGHT 2025 BY CHANNEL 3000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GREEN BAY \u2014 We have not yet reached the point where it feels like head coach Matt LaFleur…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":46116,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2072],"tags":[4191,15905,2945,15906,7,41,345,2514,2513,5390,763,8628,3031,122,6,428,904,5285],"class_list":{"0":"post-221435","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-green-bay-packers","8":"tag-adam-schefter","9":"tag-adam-stenavich","10":"tag-brian-gutekunst","11":"tag-elgton-jenkins","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-green-bay","14":"tag-green-bay-packers","15":"tag-greenbay","16":"tag-greenbaypackers","17":"tag-jaire-alexander","18":"tag-jayden-reed","19":"tag-jeff-hafley","20":"tag-matt-lafleur","21":"tag-national-football-league","22":"tag-nfl","23":"tag-packers","24":"tag-savion-williams","25":"tag-vince-lombardi"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114884314736352649","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221435\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}