Raiders' Resigning of Stokes, Koonce Confirmed 1 Thing

Quiet Signings

Las Vegas signed center Tyler Linderbaum, multiple linebackers, and a wide receiver, all of whom were major signings. Those signings rightfully garnered plenty of attention in free agency's first 24 hours.

However, the Raiders made a few other signings that are important as well. Las Vegas made sure to keep cornerback Eric Stokes and defensive end Malcolm Koonce. Keeping Stokes was vital to the Raiders' offseason, as their group of cornerbacks needs help. Koonce will help fill a rotational role.

The Raiders undoubtedly had more notable signings, but Koonce and Stokes are solid pieces to the Raiders' puzzle. Las Vegas' front office was wise to keep both players, and to do so at affordable rates. Las Vegas' other signings will garner the attention, but these two signings are key, too.

Las Vegas could still use significant help at cornerback and potentially another defensive end or two, but Koonce and Stokes fill major roles Las Vegas would have had difficulty filling without them. Furthermore, the Raiders know exactly what to expect from these two players, no guessing games.

Earlier this offseason, Raiders general manager John Spytek explained that if there were one thing he wanted to differently this offseason than his first offseason, it was to keep the right pending free agents. Last offseason, the Raiders let several affordable players go in free agency.

That decision came back to haunt them, as those players had productive seasons elsewhere at an affordable cost. The Raiders, on the other hand, finished 3-14 and sustained a 10-game losing streak for the second consecutive season. Spytek was determined not to make the same mistake again.

“We don't want to let good players leave our building. That's happened around here. I was in charge last year when a couple good players left the building. And it's one of the things I learned, you got to keep our good players here,” Spytek said. 

“And we were talking about it this morning. You look around the league there's some former Raiders that are playing good football somewhere. And I got to do a better job in that world."

Spytek's decision to keep Koonce and Stokes shows he has the ability to own mistakes and correct them moving forward. Signing Koonce to a one-year deal and Stokes to a three-year deal proved that he put serious thoughts into the decision, past just not wanting to make the same mistake twice.

Re-signing Koonce and Stokes may not be a big deal on the national level. However, for what the Raiders want to do on defense, keeping both players was much more affordable than it would have been on the field had they not done so. These two signings are quiet, but solid moves by Spytek.