Fernando Mendoza walked into the Las Vegas Raiders facility with a Heisman Trophy, an undefeated national title at Indiana, a four-year, $57.27 million rookie contract, and the kind of answer that makes old linebackers roll their eyes.
“Competing with each other, not competing against each other.”
That’s what the No. 1 overall pick told the team website’s Paul Gutierrez on the Upon Further Review podcast after signing his deal. The quote made the rounds, and on paper it sounds like the kind of thing a rookie says when he knows the old man is getting the keys first. But Mendoza drew a line between the two ideas that’s worth chewing on.
“Competing with each other [is] pushing each other to be the best quarterback we can possibly be for the Las Vegas Raiders, and to enable [us] to then win as many games as possible,” Mendoza said. “Against [is] withholding information, wishing maybe not the best intent on somebody.”
In other words: you don’t guard your cheat sheet like it’s the last rib at a tailgate. You share it.
Whether that attitude survives the first interception in a live rep is another conversation. But the setup is clear. Head coach Klint Kubiak has said he prefers a veteran starting at the beginning of the season, and Kirk Cousins — signed this offseason — is expected to take the first snap. Mendoza will get what Yahoo Sports described as “a sprinkling of work with the first team” when training camp opens this week. A sprinkling. Not a helping. Not a plateful.
The Raiders’ quarterback room isn’t just the two of them. Aidan O’Connell, the only quarterback in the building who has actually started a game for the franchise, is still there. So is undrafted rookie Jacob Clark. Mendoza framed the whole group as “top-tier” and said the dynamic is about collective improvement, not individual survival.
He also has a resource no other rookie in the league can claim: Tom Brady. The seven-time Super Bowl champion is a minority owner of the Raiders, and Mendoza has already had conversations with him. The surrealness hasn’t worn off.
“It’s surreal,” Mendoza said. “However, you know, he’s been such a great resource and he’s been, from a young age, he’s been a big idol of mine and then now it’s, OK, Tom is a human being. Yes, he’s an exceptional human being, but he’s a human being.”
Mendoza said Brady wants to be treated as a person, not a statue — “rather than looking at him with googly eyes every second.” That’s a 21-year-old talking like he’s been in the league a decade. Whether it holds up when Brady starts critiquing his footwork is a question for August.
For now, the plan is what it is. Cousins gets the bulk of the starter reps. Mendoza absorbs the offense, leans on Cousins and Kubiak, and waits. “It’s basically all in the palm of my hand and I just need to take advantage of it,” Mendoza said.
The Raiders drafted him first overall for a reason. They didn’t hand him $57 million to hold a clipboard through December. But Kubiak’s preference for a veteran opener means the leash belongs to Cousins until it doesn’t, and Mendoza’s job is to make that timeline shorter than anyone currently expects.
Camp opens this week. The “with, not against” talk is nice. The depth chart will say what it says.