Raiders’ first free agency move is the perfect one that needed to be done heading into the new era
The Raiders’ top retention priority was Stokes.
The Las Vegas Raiders are going to have a busy free agency. They have the most cap space in the NFL, yet their first move in free agency was re-signing a key player from last season.
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Raiders are re-signing cornerback Eric Stokes to a three-year deal worth $30 million, putting his AAV at about $10 million per year. His projected deal was at $9 million per year, so the Raiders gave him $1 million more than that.
Vegas’ most important retention is already knocked off their list by re-signing Eric Stokes
The Raiders’ best cornerback last season was Stokes. Now, that’s not saying much, and that statement makes sense when you look at their secondary. However, Stokes had maybe the best year of his career, and the guys around him made his job even harder every single play.
If they can put better players around Stokes with all of this free agency money they have to spend, Stokes could be even better than his deal suggests they think he could be. Stokes is a player the Raiders wanted to bring back, as Spytek singled him out at the Combine as one of them. Now, he will have the chance to show that last year wasn’t a fluke.
Stokes finished 2025 with a Pro Football Focus coverage grade of 73.5, the 21st-best coverage grade of 114 CBs graded. His overall grade of 73.6 ranked 18th in the NFL. Right now, Stokes is the CB1 for the Raiders, and, as we already stated, he has the potential to be better with a better team. However, more importantly, he’s providing a leadership stance in what’s set to be a very young CB room after the 2026 NFL Draft, along with some continuity in the room.
The Raiders can now start throwing money at whatever other issues they have, as the most important retention item may have been knocked off the list.
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