Raiders’ remade secondary fits coach Carroll’s philosophies

Editor's note: Este artículo está traducido al español.

Former first-round NFL Draft pick Eric Stokes compared his first twirl through NFL free agency to being recruited to play collegiately out of high school.

The 26-year-old cornerback, who spent his first four professional seasons with the Green Bay Packers after they selected him out of the University of Georgia, said he talked with several suitors this week.

One team’s recruiting pitch stood out above the rest — the one delivered by new Raiders coach Pete Carroll.

“Just talking to him on the phone, you can feel the energy,” Stokes said Thursday at the team’s Henderson headquarters. “You can feel everything he wants and what he believes.”

Stokes signed a one-year, $4 million deal with Las Vegas, where he will look to revive his career after struggling with injuries and losing snaps in Green Bay.

Because of his college pedigree, he might be the most recognizable name in what’s become a rebuilt Raiders’ secondary under Carroll.

Las Vegas had a pair of coveted defensive-back free agents, safety Tre’von Moehrig and cornerback Nate Hobbs, and let them both walk to sign big deals in Carolina and Green Bay, respectively.

Carroll and general manager John Spytek were quick to replenish the position, however, with a trio of veterans on more cost-effective deals in Stokes, safety Jeremy Chinn and safety/cornerback Lonnie Johnson.

All three held introductory news conferences Thursday and mentioned independently that a conversation with Carroll sold them on the Silver and Black.

“The call I got from Pete was amazing,” Johnson said. “He’s known for working with bigger (defensive backs) too — Kam Chancellor, Richard Sherman, guys like that in the (Legion of Boom) back in the day. He’s known for working with guys with my physical attributes, my physical traits, Chinn’s physical traits too. So we’re excited to see what he can do to develop us and help us become better players.”

A big question going into the official start of the 2025-2026 NFL season this week was what the balance of power would look like between Spytek and Carroll when it came to personnel. Some questioned the latter’s assertion that the two would make decisions in a straight 50/50 manner, especially with Spytek’s stronger ties to new minority owner Tom Brady who’s also been involved.

But Carroll’s influence has been evident in the moves the Raiders have made over the last week.

Swinging a trade for his former Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith — who hasn’t yet joined his new teammates in Las Vegas but is expected to in the coming days — might be the most notable example, but the defensive backfield is just as telling.

Carroll started his coaching career in the 1970s as a defensive backs assistant and has retained a passion for the position more than five decades in. He valued size, physicality and versatility above all in building the famed Legion of Boom in Seattle, and has already started leaning on the same traits in Las Vegas.

Stokes said he was drawn toward the more aggressive press, man-to-man base style Carroll and defensive coordinator Patrick Graham told him they wanted to run.

Johnson, who’s played for six teams in his six previous seasons including most notably the Houston Texans in his first three years, said he was always looking for “boom hits” that make the crowd gasp and enliven the sideline.

Chinn, who played for the Washington Commanders last year after four seasons with the Carolina Panthers following being drafted in the second round out of Southern Illinois, considers himself as much of a linebacker as he does a safety.

He’s moved all over the field in a joker-type role ever since his first season, when he finished runner-up to Chase Young in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting, and expects that to continue in Las Vegas.

“I love doing it,” Chinn said. “Just being able to present a different threat lining up in different areas, it keeps me and the defense unpredictable.”

Like Johnson, Chinn compared his style to arguably Carroll’s most famous defensive pupil, the Hall of Fame candidate Chancellor. The Raiders would on the surface plan to use Chinn similarly and make him the captain of the secondary.

Chancellor was listed as a safety throughout his nine-year career in the NFL but was used more creatively and spent time at cornerback in college.

Johnson can also play both positions, and he said the Raiders haven’t decided where he would have a chance to work in this season.   

He’s been mostly a special teams player over the last three seasons after requesting a trade from Texans in a move he now says he’s regrets. But Las Vegas promised a chance to earn more time on defense, and Johnson jumped on it.

“Compete” is Carroll’s favorite word as he’s vowed at every spot that the best players in practice will play in the games regardless of their reputations or contract statuses. That’s a relief to Johnson, who noted he was, “probably the lowest-paid guy on the team,” after signing what’s believed to be around a veteran-minimum 1-year, $1 million deal.

But Carroll made a push to sign him to help set a new tone on pass defense. That was the case with all three of the Raiders’ new defensive backs, and it meant something to all of them.

“We’re all coming here, and we all want the same thing,” Stokes said.