Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza remains unsigned with training camp just a week away.
Training camp is about to open, and Las Vegas Raiders fans are excited. They have a new coach and two new quarterbacks, an experienced veteran and the top pick in the draft.
But there’s one thing they don’t have and that’s a new quarterback who’s actually put his signature on a contract. According to a report from Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, Fernando Mendoza is one of four unsigned quarterbacks who were drafted in the first three rounds back in April.
This was reported as a minor story not long after the draft, largely because rookie quarterbacks are cut-and-dried. Most of them get signed immediately, but there are also some noteworthy exceptions.
Mendoza was one of them, and this story gets more significant as we get closer to training camp. If it extends into August it will be a big story, regardless of how pro forma the whole process may be.
So what’s going on here? It depends on the quarterback, actually. The other three players involved, according to Florio, are Los Angeles Rams quarterback Ty Simpson (13th overall), Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Beck (third round, 65th overall), and Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Drew Allar (third round, 76th overall).
To answer that question, let’s work out way up, round-wise. For Beck and Allar, it’s probably about the signing bonus, offset language and the voiding of guarantees. Negotiating these issues to at least some degree has become an annual event for quarterbacks in this round for the last couple of years as they try to goose a system that’s largely cast in stone for a little extra here and there.
Simpson’s a bit more of a mystery. He wasn’t expected to be selected in the first round, and we all remember the look on Sean McVay’s face as if someone had spit in his soup when the selection was announced. It’s entirely possible the Rams are playing hardball with him given that set of circumstances, but no one really knows for sure.
Mendoza’s situation is different. He’s joining the Raiders having banked a considerable amount of NIL money, not to mention whatever endorsements he’s negotiating to sign as well. He’s already wealthy, but that doesn’t mean he’s not going to use all the leverage he’s accumulated, as he’d be foolish not to.
This still isn’t a major story, but it’s starting to grow legs. Those legs will continue to grow if it’s still being reported by the likes of Florio if he’s still unsigned in August, and justifiably so.
