Raiders C Andre James on New Contract: 'This is the Place I wanted to Be'

The Las Vegas Raiders made a key move bringing back center Andre James this offseason, a veteran who has been one of the longest-tenured assets on the team.

For James, who has been with the same franchise since entering the league in 2019, it was a new experience having the option to go elsewhere.

"Yeah, this was my first time being a free agent, so it was all kind of new for me," James told reporters on Monday, "but I really didn't want to go anywhere. This is the place I wanted to be. And yeah, just glad we were able to make it happen."

As exciting as being a free agent can be, there can be some cons to the situation, especially when it's a first.

'It was hard just sitting there and being like, 'There's nothing,'" James said. "There's no information that you can really get, only little hints. But it was stressful not knowing where you could be, anywhere in the country, within a couple of weeks’ notice. It was stressful, but like I said, I'm just happy to be back here."

James will be entering his sixth season with the Silver and Black, who signed the offensive lineman as an undrafted free agent in the 2019 offseason. Now, James is one of the older guys in the room and will be helping lead what could end up being a relatively young offensive line.

"Yeah, it's crazy," James said when thinking about entering his sixth NFL season. "Going on to your sixth, it's like, 'Man.' I was just thinking about this today. It's like, 'Man, it flew by just like this. It's crazy.' But yeah, I'm super excited to just continue to keep developing, continue to keep growing, and just working."

James has played 76 games for the Raiders, making 49 starts. He has started every game he has played in over the past three seasons.

On an offensive line that will look a little different next season, it will be good for Las Vegas to have that consistency in James, who knows what it means to be a Raider.

The NFL Draft will be held in Detroit, Mich., on April 25-27, 2024. The Las Vegas Raiders currently have the No. 13 overall pick.

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