Eric Stokes is no longer just trying to prove he can stay healthy. After signing a three-year contract in March, the Raiders cornerback is focused on becoming a vocal leader in the defensive backfield.
Stokes, who joined Las Vegas last season after the Packers declined his fifth-year option, started 16 games and ranked 14th among NFL cornerbacks per Pro Football Focus. His durability silenced questions about his injury history after he played only 29 games total over his final three seasons in Green Bay.
“Vegas was my No. 1 team, my No. 1 option, and made me feel since Day 1 since I got here, pretty much opened me with welcome arms and all this stuff, that pretty much I just wanted to come back to it. This is home now,” Stokes said Wednesday after an organized team activity at the team facility.
General manager John Spytek called Stokes one of the defense’s most consistent performers last season and made re-signing him a priority. The new deal, announced at the start of free agency, gives the Raiders stability at one corner spot and validates Stokes’ breakout campaign.
“Man, it was a good feeling. I am not even going to lie to you,” Stokes said of proving he could stay healthy and perform. “It was a great feeling just going out there and doing everything, it’s just so much of just proving myself again to where I know I’m like that.”
The 27-year-old Georgia native has also emerged as a recruiter, helping lure former college teammates Quay Walker and Nakobe Dean to Las Vegas. Now he wants to take on a bigger role in the locker room.
“I want to show everybody that I can actually lead,” Stokes said. “I want to be able to be everything. To be there for (my teammates), and let them know pretty much on and off the field that you’ve got a brother.”
He credits the relationships he built with everyone from the GM to the nutrition staff for creating an environment where he could thrive. Stokes aims to foster that same brotherhood in the defensive backs room, saying he wants the group to be “connected” and “like a family.”
Stokes was a first-round pick by Green Bay in 2022 and started 16 games as a rookie, recording 14 passes defensed. But he didn’t have a single pass defensed over his final three seasons with the Packers. Now, with a new contract and a clean bill of health, he’s embracing every opportunity.
“I appreciate this a lot,” he said. “Just being here talking in front of all of you and everything, I don’t take any of this for granted anymore. … I’m embracing any and every new role that I can, going through the growing pains with it, and pretty much learning from it.”
