NFL agent reveals why Fernando Mendoza remains unsigned by Raiders as No. 1 pick disputes media persona

Fernando Mendoza is yet to sign his Las Vegas Raiders contract, despite being taken as the first overall pick two months ago.

The Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback is set for a massive payday, and will be handed a four-year, $57.27 million deal with a fifth-year option and a $38.11m signing bonus.

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Despite the massive figures involved, Mendoza is one of just two first-round picks yet to officially put pen to paper, with Ty Simpson being the other, and one former NFL agent believes he knows why.

Why hasn’t Fernando Mendoza signed his Raiders contract yet?

Writing for CBS Sports, Joel Corry suggested that while the foundation of the quarterback’s contract is already set thanks to the rookie wage scale, the signing bonus schedule could be the holdup.

“The primary negotiating issue, particularly at the top of the draft, is the payment schedule for the signing bonus,” Corry wrote.

“Mendoza is probably unsigned because of the difference between the recent trend for signing bonus payments to first overall picks and the Raiders’ standard signing bonus payment schedule for their first-round picks.

“Large signing bonuses in NFL contracts typically aren’t paid in a single lump sum. The exception is that lump-sum signing bonus payments have become customary for the first overall pick.

“The last time a first overall pick didn’t receive his signing bonus in a single payment was quarterback Kyler Murray with the Arizona Cardinals in 2019.”

While it has become the norm in recent years, Corry added that Las Vegas doesn’t typically conform.

He continued: “The Raiders haven’t been paying first-round pick signing bonuses in a lump sum.

“The payment schedule for the previous three first-round picks — Ashton Jeanty (2025, sixth overall), Brock Bowers (2024, 13th overall) and Tyree Wilson (2023, seventh overall) — was 77.5% within 15 days of signing, 12.5% in mid-September and the final 10% in mid-October.

“Jeanty, Bowers and Wilson signed their respective contracts on May 9, May 10 and May 12, coinciding with the Raiders’ three-day rookie minicamp.

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“Under the Raiders’ typical payment structure, Mendoza would receive $29.563 million in his first installment, which is less than the entire signing bonus (second overall pick Travis) Hunter received in a lump-sum payment last year (from the Jacksonville Jaguars).

“David Bailey, the second overall pick in 2026, received $28,978,749 of his $36,223,436 signing bonus — 80% of the total — one week after signing on May 15.”

While it appears the signing bonus will need to be ironed out before Mendoza puts pen to paper, he doesn’t seem like the kind of player that will miss any training camp out of principle, if he remains unsigned.

The first overall pick already has a ‘team first’ mentality, which was on full show when he skipped Indiana’s visit to the White House to attend rookie minicamp.

But long before the Raiders made Mendoza the top pick of the draft, which entitles him to that big contract, the Hoosiers prospect moved to dispel a different media narrative around him.

Fernando Mendoza puts ‘goody two-shoes’ reputation to bed in pre-draft meeting

He’s landed in the NFL with a well-mannered and polished image, thanks in part to a viral moment after Indiana topped Ohio State to win the Big 10 Championship Game in December.

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“We were never supposed to be in this position, but now we’re the flipping champs,” Mendoza shouted on live TV, in a clip that was replayed millions of times.

“We’re brothers, we know how to stick together and we’re the toughest glue ever.”

His decision to use the word ‘flipping’ instead of a NSFW alternative led to many suggesting the quarterback never curses, never behaves poorly, and has the polished personality of a chat bot.

Mendoza, though, assured the Raiders that the perception around him simply wasn’t true.

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“The media painted a picture of me that was a little different from my true personality,” he told GM John Spytek at the NFL Combine, in a newly-shared, behind-the-scenes clip.

“Especially after the Ohio State game when I said ‘flipping’ instead of ‘f***ing’. At that point, and I was like, ‘OK, he doesn’t curse. He’s a goody two-shoes.’

“And I don’t know, like my whole thing is you’ve got to communicate with teammates, communicate with coaches, so let me get really good at speaking.

“I’ve always taken speech classes. I’ve always looked at YouTube videos how to communicate, how to be a better leader. I’m a huge reader as well.

“So, with that, it’s developed senses where people like, ‘Oh, this guy’s ChatGPT.’ But whenever you ask any of my team, I’m sure I don’t want to speak for them, but I’ve been able to connect with my teammates really well, and not like a ChatGPT scenario.”

There we have it. The myth around Mendoza has been busted by the man himself.

Next up, he’ll probably be hoping to quiet any growing talk around his Raiders contract — and he can do that by putting pen to paper.

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