NFL
Exclusive: Raiders Will Not Trade No.1 Pick with Fernando Mendoza Top Priority
The Las Vegas Raiders are determined to draft Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza with the first overall pick, rebuffing all trade offers. The team sees Mendoza as the top prospect and plans to pair him with rookie head coach Klint Kubiak. Other teams are aware that the Raiders have no intention of giving up the pick, as securing a franchise quarterback is a top priority for new minority owner Tom Brady.
2025 Big Ten Football Championship - Ohio State v Indiana by Michael Reaves | Getty Images
The Las Vegas Raiders are prizing the first-overall selection in the draft, intending to use it on Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza, according to team and league sources, and are almost certain to rebuff any and every trade overture for the pick.
Quarterback need is running high in the NFL, with roughly a third of the league considering a switch (or desperately in need of one) and Mendoza is viewed in the scouting community as the top prospect by far amid a shaky draft crop.
The Raiders brass is deadest on selecting him, and already this early in the offseason that first overall selection is being viewed as virtually unattainable by other teams who would be inclined to move up to try to select Mendoza themselves.
A Rookie QB And Rookie Head Coach
The Raiders believe their future is intrinsically tied to pairing Mendoza with rookie head coach Klint Kubiak, a quarterback guru and offensive play caller. Part of the allure to hiring him was the ability to pair him with Mendoza in an attempt to revamp a long-suffering offense on the fly.
Moving them off that plan will be virtually impossible, as the Raiders have not received consistently elite quarterback play since Rich Gannon was competing for MVPs in the early 2000s, and new minority owner Tom Brady has made securing a franchise quarterback his top priority, according to multiple sources very close to the future Hall of Fame quarterback.
“You aren’t getting that pick from Brady,” said one NFL general manager who is eager to upgrade at quarterback as soon as possible.
“It’s not for sale. Mendoza is their guy. It’s like when (Bengals owner) Mike Brown had the first pick and (Joe) Burrow was coming out. They weren’t going to move that pick. Same thing here.”
Another GM said: “Is somebody going to throw three ones (first-round picks) at them to draft the kid from Indiana? That’s not going to happen. They’re drafting the quarterback.”
Of course, things could change between now and the draft at the end of April, but it’s already clear the Raiders are putting a massively high price on the first selection, and other front offices are already starting to operate as if Mendoza, who won the Heisman Trophy as the nation’s top college player, is off the table.
Meanwhile, North Dakota State quarterback Cole Payton is rapidly climbing draft boards, with some scouts now viewing him as the clear No. 2 signal-caller in the class behind Mendoza.
La Canfora has covered over 20 Super Bowls and League Meetings and NFL drafts, building a wide network of sources throughout all aspects of the game. He was an award winning print journalist as well, working at The Detroit Free Press and The Baltimore Sun prior to his first stint at The Washington Post. He has covered sporting events around the world, including two Winter Olympics and all of the 2006 World Cup. He attended his first NFL game in 1978, and would soon kindle what has become a lifelong love and appreciation of the sport. La Canfora is also a professional handicapper, specializing in the NFL, creating a daily sports wagering game show - "Wanna Bet?" He also hosts nationally broadcast NFL radio shows in the US, as well as a daily sports radio show in his hometown of Baltimore, Maryland.