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Former Eagles CB Jaire Alexander opens up on his abrupt retirement in 2025
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- Former Eagles CB Jaire Alexander opens up on his abrupt retirement in 2025
Former Eagles CB Jaire Alexander opens up on his abrupt retirement in 2025 originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Former NFL cornerback Jaire Alexander opened up about his decision to abruptly retire during the 2025 season in a piece he wrote for The Players Tribune .
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The Eagles acquired Alexander in a trade with the Ravens on Nov. 1, but put him on the reserve/retired list just 11 days later. At the time, sources indicated that Alexander was stepping away to focus on his mental and physical health.
And now we know some more details of what Alexander was going through during his final days in Green Bay , his short stint in Baltimore and his shorter stint in Philly.
Here's part of his piece from The Players Tribune about his arrival in Philadelphia:
"Since I hadn't been suiting up for games at that point, and was practicing less, I was actually feeling pretty good when I came over to the Eagles. And I obviously felt like I needed to prove something. For those first couple days, I mean, let me tell you … I was one of the best DBs out on that practice field. And I was excited, too, because the Eagles were about to play at Green Bay their next game. It was all systems go.
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"But as game day got closer, my knee kept swelling up more and more. It's getting worse and worse because of all the reps. And in my head, as much as I'm trying to not think this way, it's like.… Here we go again ."
Alexander, 29, said that the night before the team was supposed to fly to Green Bay for a game against his former team, he began texting the Eagles at 3 or 4 a.m. to say, "I'm sorry, but I don't think I'm going to do this. I can't keep playing like this." And then in the morning, he went to the facility to tell them in person.
Alexander said he had a heart-to-heart conversation with then-Eagles DBs coach Christian Parker that morning about the feeling he was letting people down again.
The Eagles placed Alexander on the reserve/retired list on Nov. 12 without Alexander's having ever playing a game for the organization.
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In the November trade, the Eagles got Alexander and a 2027 seventh-round pick for a 2026 sixth-round pick. After the whole Maxx Crosby situation with the Ravens, many fans wondered if the Ravens had duped the Eagles in the Alexander trade, but that doesn't appear to be the case. Alexander passed his physical in Philadelphia and was preparing to play for the Eagles until things went south.
The Ravens last month ended up using that sixth-round pick (No. 211) on punter Ryan Eckley out of Michigan State. The Eagles traded a 2027 seventh round pick to the Panthers for QB Andy Dalton — the Alexander trade ensures that they'll still have an extra seventh next year.
Back in March, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that Alexander had to pay back $889,000 to the Eagles instead of the Ravens as a forfeiture of his signing bonus after retiring. The Eagles also received a salary cap credit.
