As Pete Carroll attempts to mold the Las Vegas Raiders' secondary in the image he favors, one of the most interesting and wide-open training camp battles is taking place at cornerback. Free agent signing Eric Stokes is locked into a starting job, but outside of that, nothing is truly set in stone.
The remaining competitors, who are chiefly Darien Porter, Decamerion Richardson and Jakorian Bennett, naturally have good and bad days early in camp, but the general theme is that the young players are performing quite well. Competition in the cornerback room drives improvement, as defensive coordinator Patrick Graham noted.
"I just love the fact that the room is competitive,” Graham said recently, via Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “There are a lot of good guys in there, and it’s driving all of them to improve. Because you’ve got to be ready to go.”
Raiders matched with veteran cornerback who may sign somewhere soon
Something the Raiders could use more of in the cornerback room, however, is veteran savvy. Carroll and Graham can profess all the positivity that they want to, but there are questions at the position given how young it is. NFL.com's Kevin Patra proposed signing Stephon Gilmore as a solution.
"The Raiders' secondary underwent an overhaul in Pete Carroll’s first offseason with the franchise, including the departures of Nate Hobbs and Jack Jones," Patra wrote. "Bringing in a presence like Gilmore makes sense for a head coach who leans on his veterans. Turning 35 in September, Gilmore still has juice in his legs and wants to continue his career into Year 14. His size and length fit well in a Carroll defense, and he’d provide a buffer if young players like third-rounder Darien Porter struggle out of the gate. At a notoriously volatile position, having a known commodity like Gilmore during a year of transition can help Las Vegas turn things around under the new staff."
Gilmore certainly fits the bill as a veteran who may want to avoid the grind of training camp for as long as he can. Last year, he didn't sign with the Minnesota Vikings until August 18. His days as a perennial Pro Bowler are behind him, but he's still a solid corner and wants to play in the right situation.
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Injuries are an unfortunate reality of training camp, and three teams have notably had their cornerback ranks thinned in recent days. The Dallas Cowboys will be without Caelen Carson for 4-6 weeks, so that may be an ideal situation for Gilmore, who spent the 2023 season in Dallas.
Otherwise, the Cleveland Browns have lost Martin Emerson to a torn Achilles, and Kader Kohou became the third cornerback the Miami Dolphins have lost to a major injury. The market for Gilmore, who has no kind of lingering injury, is set to ramp up as the calendar flips to August.
The Raiders may end up losing out on him to teams with a more urgent need at cornerback if they don't move quickly. But, in a general sense, they should have an interest in adding a notable veteran to the cornerback mix, especially one with an NFL Defensive Player of the Year award on their resume.