Carolina Panthers named top landing spot for newly available star cornerback

Jaire Alexander is available. Despite some warnings from an NFL insider, he makes a lot of sense for the Carolina Panthers. Cornerback isn't a glaring hole or anything, but they lack depth, and they're not exactly good enough to say no to a Pro Bowl-level CB. He's also from Charlotte and particularly enjoys playing there.

It all adds up, which is why Pro Football and Sports Network's Cameron Sheath thinks Carolina is a sensible destination for the star cornerback. Whether or not the team agrees is another thing, but there's reason to think it's something they're mulling over.

"The Panthers allowed the most passing touchdowns in the NFL last season and were a bottom-half defense in passing yards allowed," he argued. Even after extending Jaycee Horn, re-signing Mike Jackson, and adding Tre'von Moehrig, this isn't exactly a ball-hawking, lockdown secondary.

Sheath added, "Jackson’s deal doesn’t lock him into a starting job, and adding Alexander would only strengthen the group as the Panthers try to take a step forward in 2025." A lot of NFL offenses will use three wide receivers at a time on a given play, so the Panthers need three cornerbacks to counter that.

Behind Horn and Jackson on the depth chart are Shemar Bartholomew and Akayleb Evans. Chau Smith-Wade is the nickel cornerback right now, so the players behind two solid corners are not very good. It's a hole that Alexander would perfectly fill.

Since he's a free agent, a signing makes sense. A trade would have been much harder to swallow, but Green Bay's release of the former Pro Bowl cornerback makes this transaction a little easier for Carolina to pull off.