Coming into the offseason, the Oakland Raiders knew they had a major hole at the cornerback position. Sean Smith and David Amerson were released by the team, and T.J. Carrie decided to sign with the Cleveland Browns. That left Gareon Conley as the main holdover from 2017, which was a season that saw the rookie barely play due to injury.
To patch up the position group, the Raiders signed Rashaan Melvin to a one-year contract. Melvin, who finally became a starter in his fourth stop of his NFL journey with the Indianapolis Colts, had a breakout season in 2017, and is going to be penciled in at the top of the depth chart entering camp in Napa.