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In February, Raiders general manager Tom Telesco indicated that star wide receiver Davante Adams wouldn't be traded when he said, "He's a Raider."

On Sunday, Adams made it clear that sentiment was mutual.

"If I wanted to be gone, I'd be gone by now," Adams told reporters from his football camp, according to The Athletic. "This is where I want to be."

The Raiders acquired Adams from the Packers in 2022 and then signed him to a five-year, $140 million contract extension. That still hasn't stopped trade speculation the past two offseasons.

However, while he might have had some discontent with Josh McDaniels, his former coach, he is a staunch supporter of Antonio Pierce, his new coach. In January, Adams stumped for Pierce to have the interim tag removed from his title after he led the Raiders to a 5-4 record to end the season. Adams appears to be much happier now that Pierce was hired for the full-time role.

"It's already helped the morale of the team. It's what we were all looking for: To be able to continue with the same mindset that we had. That's our guy," he said Sunday, according to The Athletic.

Adams also told ESPN's Paul Gutierrez during the week of the Super Bowl that he's excited to work with new Raiders offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, who was on the Packers' staff when he broke into the NFL in 2014.

"He's the type of coach that's open-minded ... he's going to be open to hearing things from the veteran players that know how this thing works and the best way to do things," he said.

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HENDERSON, Nev. -- Former Pro Bowl guard Cody Whitehair is following his old offensive coordinator Luke Getsy to the desert.

Whitehair, a Pro Bowl selection in 2018 for the Chicago Bears, agreed to a one-year contract with the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday, two months after Getsy, the Bears' offensive coordinator the previous two seasons, came to Southern Nevada.

The Raiders have an opening at right guard. Whitehair, who is already familiar with Getsy's scheme, figures to be a plug-and-play veteran addition, even as the 6-feet-3, 316-pounder has started only three games there in his eight-year career.

Whitehair, 31, who has played in 124 games with 118 starts, has started 61 games at center and 54 games at left guard.

The Raiders return three starters on the offensive line in left tackle Kolton Miller, left guard Dylan Parham and center Andre James.

James said he was "super excited" to add Whitehair to the offensive line, especially given his familiarity with Getsy's system.

"It's nice having a vet like that come in and [with] a lot of the experience that he's had, it's only just going to benefit the whole offensive room," James said.

"I was just talking with him today, about some of the schemes and some of the things that [the Bears] ran. It's always helpful having a guy who's familiar with the offense, familiar with the scheme and the system, especially there in the offensive line room. Just to kind of pick his brain and just kind get some of the keys and some of the information that he's got for a long time."

Whitehair was released by the Bears on Feb. 15 in a move that freed up salary cap space.

Especially if the Las Vegas Raiders prioritize quarterback or offensive line during the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, Day 2 could be the sweet spot for the Raiders to target one of the team’s other big needs, cornerback.

Below is a look at five draft prospects to keep an eye on all of whom are ranked with the top 33 to 100 players on NFL Mock Draft Database’s consensus big board. Also included are a few notes from each corner’s scouting reports, their RAS and some numbers from Pro Football Focus.

Mike Sainristil, Michigan

Rank: 51st overall

RAS: 8.45

Sainristil primarily held down the slot corner responsibilities for the National Champions last season and while the Raiders have a quality nickelback in Nate Hobbs, Hobbs is about to enter a contract year. The Michigan product could be a good long-term solution as he logged 12 defensive stops in coverage during the 2023 campaign, which was tied for the third-most among Big 10 corners. Also, he showed some impressive ball skills with six interceptions (second-most in FBS) and six pass breakups.

Scouting report via NFL.com (full report):

Reliable and tough with the athleticism and upside to keep getting better as a nickel corner. Sainristil is a former receiver who plays with surprising field awareness and attention to detail as a zone defender. He has the twitch and footwork to stay connected with routes in man coverage but needs more experience at the position to operate with better recognition and feel for the routes. He showed off top-notch ball skills with six interceptions (two for scores) in 2023 and has no problem stepping up and doing his part as a run defender. Sainristil isn’t there yet but should keep improving and has a chance to become a starting nickel in time.

Max Melton, Rutgers

Rank: 63rd overall

RAS: 9.09

Melton’s older brother, Bo, was a deep-threat receiver in the 2022 draft class who ended up getting drafted by the Green Bay Packers. So, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that Max is a similar type of player, just on the other side of the ball. The younger Melton clocked a 4.39-second 40-yard-dash at the NFL Combine and rarely gets beat deep as the longest reception he surrendered last season was 26 yards, the third-lowest among Big 10 corners. Also, his 65.7 passer rating allowed when targeted ranked seventh.

Scouting report via NFL.com (full report):

Versatile inside/outside cornerback who displayed improvement every year at Rutgers. Melton carries good size and did a nice job staying with some of the better receiving options from the Big Ten. He’s adequate from press and has the burst to make up ground when he gets behind early. He’s at his best, however, when playing with his eyes forward from zone and searching for clues to jump in and make plays on the football. The ball skills can flip the field, and he’s very aggressive in collapsing the catch point. He’s capable in run support but needs to work on his angles of pursuit. His versatility, traits, instincts and ball skills could make him an eventual starter and an early CB3/4.

Khyree Jackson, Oregon

Rank: 92nd overall

RAS: 7.86

In the past, general manager Tom Telesco hasn’t prioritized tall or long cornerbacks during the draft. However, Jackson’s nearly 6-foot-4 frame with 32 3/4-inch arms is hard to ignore. That’s a big reason why he ranked tied for third among Pac-12 cornerbacks with eight pass breakups and tied for second with three interceptions. Also, his 41.6 passer rating when targeted was second-best in the conference.

Scouting report via Bleacher Report (full report):

While playing in coverage, Jackson shows a range of coverages and techniques. Press man coverage is the one he plays the most. He opts to mostly mirror receivers at the line of scrimmage and get hands-on as he rides them downfield. At times, he can fall behind when facing shiftier athletes, and without true recovery speed, he can panic at times and grab for a jersey to keep within range. When he’s able to get his head around, he does a great job of locating and tracking the ball. One of the biggest keys to Jackson’s success in coverage is how well he’s able to keep his pad level down.

Cam Hart, Notre Dame

Rank: 98th overall

RAS: 9.00

Cut from a similar cloth as Jackson, Hart is a tall corner at 6-foot-3 and has good arm length (33 inches). The biggest difference between the two is the Notre Dame product’s frame didn’t lead to impressive ball production with just four PBUs over the last two seasons. The former Golden Domer is more of a shut-down corner. His 10.1 coverage snaps per reception allowed and 19.0 coverage snaps per target were 14th and tied for 23rd among all FBS corners in 2023.

Scouting report via Bleacher Report (full report):

As a bigger cornerback, Hart has great movement skills. He plays with the instincts needed in zone and the short-area quickness desired to play underneath routes. He has the skills to be a contributor early on in his NFL career, with plenty of roles that he can fill into. Hart will go through an adjustment period for the first few years of his NFL career, though.

Andru Phillips, Kentucky

Rank: 97th overall

RAS: 8.13

Phillips is a smaller corner at just under 5-foot-11. Versatility is one of his better traits after logging 228 snaps as a left outside corner, 198 on the right and 223 over the slot last fall. Also, his 23 defensive stops were the most of any SEC cornerback, two more than Alabama’s Terrion Arnold despite playing in 130 fewer snaps.

Phillips’ tape features a high number of both completions and drops that should have been completions, but that could change in a different scheme and with additional experience. He’s still green, with just two years of real game experience, and often played too loose in Kentucky’s zone cover schemes. Phillips lacks the anticipation to contest catches at a high enough rate from zone but does have the athleticism to play more man coverage, with the tools to stay sticky on routes. He’s an ardent run supporter with excellent toughness but needs to finish tackles at a higher rate. Scheme fit might be critical, along with proving he can play from the slot, but his best football could be ahead of him.

While all eyes are on what the Las Vegas Raiders are going to do at quarterback in the NFL draft, which starts in 10 days, there was a recent report saying that new general manager Tom Telesco and head coach Antonio Pierce aren’t on the same page about the approach at the position.

Tony Pauline of SportsKeeda reported this recently:

“There’s also been talk about the Las Vegas Raiders wanting to move up for a quarterback. The latest completely from Raiders’ draft meetings is that head coach Antonio Pierce wants to trade up for a signal caller, yet general manager Tom Telesco is leaning heavily toward sticking with second-year quarterback Aidan O’Connell and free-agent signing Gardner Minshew.”

In February, Pauline had some reports on the Raiders’ quarterback plan.

He reported that the presence of new offensive coordinator Luke Getsy in Las Vegas would help the Raiders try to trade for Justin Fields from Chicago. Getsy was fired as the Bears’ offensive coordinator after the season and he worked with Fields the past two seasons. There was a report that the Raiders might have interest in Fields moments before they signed Minshew. He ended up being shipped to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Pauline also reported in February that O’Connell seemed to be the choice of Pierce, but Telesco wanted a “big name” at quarterback. Minshew is capable, but he’s not exactly a household name.

As for the new information from Pauline, it’s all plausible.

Look, Pierce has publicly said it’s in his coaching nature to want to trade up and get a quarterback. It’s how coaches operate. They want to coach the best players possible.

General managers, meanwhile, are in charge of maintaining a plan for now and the future, so it’s also plausible to think Telesco would be reluctant to spend what it will take to get a top quarterback prospect.

So, an O’Connell-Minshew competition may be the most realistic approach. If that happens, it doesn’t mean Pierce won’t be excited to work with O’Connell and Minshew.

The key is, if Telesco and Pierce are, indeed, at odds over this decision, is they they calmly work through it and come to an understanding of what’s best for the future of the team and ensure that conflict over roster building doesn’t become the norm.

Overall, I wouldn’t be too concerned about this situation. It’s just part of the normal coach-GM give-and-take.