New contract. New year. New number. New mentality.
It’s been quite the back-to-back offseasons for Las Vegas Raiders cornerback Eric Stokes. From flier signing to established veteran who is embracing a leadership role, the Georgia native is on the “a change of scenery does one good” career progression.
Initially signed to a modest one-year, $3.5 million contract last offseason to help augment the cornerback room and add a veteran with requisite length and speed to operate in the Silver & Black defense,
Stokes played in 16 games (all starts) for Las Vegas and was a stingy perimeter corner. Charted by Pro Football Reference for allowing 34 receptions on 60 targets, the 6-foot-1 and 195-pound Georgia product yielded a 56.7 completion percentage while giving up 329 yards and one touchdown. Quarterbacks throwing Stokes’ way sorted a 77.7 rating
By The Numbers
Eric Stokes, Cornerback
- 2025: 16 games (all starts), 53 total tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 5 pass deflections, 34 completions allowed on 60 targets (56.7 completion percentage allowed), for 329 yards, 1 touchdown allowed, 4 missed tackles.
- Career: (2021-25), 61 games (48 starts), 181 total tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 1 interception, 19 pass deflections, 144 completions allowed on 248 targets (58.1 completion percentage allowed), for 1,583 yards, 11 touchdowns allowed, 15 missed tackles.
The games he played in 2025 tied his career high (16 in his rookie season in 2021 after the Green Bay Packers selected him 29th overall in the 2021 NFL Draft) but the 16 starts marked a new career record. From an oft-injured and reserve corner in Green Bay, Stokes proved he could hang and maintain in Las Vegas, so much so, the 27-year-old was rewarded with a three-year, $30 million contract with $20 million of that guaranteed. The cornerback was part of general manager John Spytek and head coach Klint Kubiak building a roster and one of several unrestricted free agents to get some serious coin this offseason.
Stokes, who ran a blistering 4.25-second 40-yard dash time at Georgia’s Pro Day as he prepped for the 2021 draft, went from flier signing to established CB1 for last year’s Raiders coaching staff and is set to be the top cornerback this season once again. While many will say his interceptions need to increase — he does only have one in five season in the league so far — where Stokes wants to grow is leading the cornerback room in play and mentality.
“Man, I just want to be a leader. I want to show everybody that I can actually lead, that I can actually be something other than just when I am, to where I want to be able to be everything, just be there for you, just know pretty much on and off the field that you got a brother,” Stokes said after Las Vegas OTA last week. “I don’t want you to feel like you’re alone. I want us to be connected in the DB room. One thing that Klint (Kubiak) always says, we’re pretty much connected. That’s one thing that I’m going to drive in my DB room to where it’s any little thing going on, man, we are a brotherhood. We could go out, we could do everything. We’re going to celebrate together, we’re going to go to dinners together, we’re going to be pretty much like a family.”
The “in my DB room” comment stresses Stokes’ desire to be the man in the secondary.
Alongside nickel cornerback Taron Johnson (who is 29 years old), Stokes at 27 is the elder statesmen with the slot defender. And with seven of the nine cornerbacks on the 90-man roster 25 years old or younger, Stokes can provide a sounding board for the peaks and valleys of an NFL career going from promising first rounder to injured afterthought, and revitalizing his career in Silver & Black.
“I feel good. I mean, it feels good, something new, but then again, something that I’ve been looking forward to to where I’ve been wanting this. I’ve been wanting a leader role. I’ve been wanting something like this and all that stuff, so now that the opportunity’s here, I’m going to embrace it full force,” said Stokes. “There’s going to be ups and downs. It’s pretty much like a roller coaster. I’m going to go through growing pains with this and all that stuff, but it’s just a learning curve that I’m ready to take on.”
Stokes becoming more vocal and organizing the cornerback room to become more close knit will be a challenge, but the comraderies that comes from that can be invaluable, too.
As noted above, Las Vegas has a younger group as the team did draft another tall, long, and speedy cornerback in 2025 in Darien Porter (third round, 68th overall) and the rookie last year played in all 17 games with 10 starts. Spytek added even more young talent in the 2026 draft snagging Jermod McCoy in the fourth round (101st overall) and Zeke Masses in the fifth (175th overall). Like Stokes, McCoy is a flier-type prospect as he’s coming off a knee injury that may be a long-term concern but is a classic ballhawk corner the Raiders haven’t had since Phillip Buchanon. Masses, taken a round later, is of similar ilk as a thief at corner as he snared five interceptions in his lone season at Cal this past year.
Spytek also drafted Arizona safeties Treydan Stukes (38th overall) and Dalton Johnson (150th overall) to bolster the secondary and the pair of Wildcats can play the slot corner role, too. Which will make the competition in training camp — when teams can put on the pads and get physical, providing the demarcation line between roster contenders and pretenders — a much-needed heated race to earn roles and snaps.
“I love the new guys. I just can’t wait to see how they’re going to develop and how they’re going to move on from this thing, especially coming from college to the league,” Stokes noted. “It’s always a challenge, but I feel like that we got the right guys and we got the right people in the room to help them grow.”
How Stokes grows as not only a leader but stacking consistency and productive seasons beyond the 2025 campaign that earned him a pay day in March bears a tone of watching. Because if he isn’t on point or misses time, even with all his speed, he can get passed up by young and hungry teammates.
