After being selected as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft in April, former Indiana football quarterback Fernando Mendoza signed with the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday, per an announcement from the team.
Mendoza signed a four-year, $57.27 million fully guaranteed deal. The contract also includes a fifth-year option, which allows a team to extend a player's initial four-year deal by one additional season. When exercised, this fifth year becomes fully guaranteed. The deal also includes a $38.11 million signing bonus.
Raiders rookies reported to training camp Thursday in Henderson, Nevada. Mendoza will join four other former Indiana players at Raiders training camp: running back Roman Hemby, wide receivers E.J. Williams and Jonathan Brady, plus tight end Ian Thomas.
Mendoza led the Hoosiers to a 16-0 season and claimed the program’s first-ever national championship. Indiana defeated the University of Miami 27-21 on Jan. 19 with a game-clinching 12-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter by Mendoza.
Along with the Hoosiers winning the Big Ten Championship, Rose Bowl and Peach Bowl during the postseason, Mendoza also won Indiana’s first-ever Heisman Trophy. The Miami native previously won the Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Award and Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year.
Mendoza led the Football Bowl Subdivision with 41 passing touchdowns, a 182.9 passing efficiency and 288 total points responsible for. He was the only FBS quarterback with six games of four-plus touchdown passes and zero interceptions and accounted for at least one touchdown in all 16 games.
The Miami native will compete with 14-year NFL veteran Kirk Cousins and former Purdue quarterback Aidan O’Connell — who has started 21 games for Las Vegas in the last three seasons — for the QB1 role.
During the Raiders’ offseason program, Cousins received most of the first-team reps, with Mendoza mostly playing with the third team and receiving occasional work with the second-team offense. Las Vegas will also be led by first-year head coach Klint Kubiak.
The Raiders will begin the NFL regular season against the Miami Dolphins on Sept. 13 in Las Vegas. Meanwhile, Indiana will begin play with a new-look roster without Mendoza under center against the University of North Texas on Sept. 5 at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington.
