Former IU football quarterback Fernando Mendoza has signed his first NFL contract with the Las Vegas Raiders
Mendoza was selected in the first round by the Raiders in April’s NFL Draft.
According to Spotrac, Mendoza signed a 4-year, $57,270,598 contract with Las Vegas, including a $38,111,344 signing bonus, $57,270,598 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $14,317,650.
The Raiders took Mendoza with the No. 1 overall pick. He will continue to wear No. 15 in the NFL. He is one of five former Hoosiers at Raiders training camp, joining Roman Hemby, E.J. Williams, Jonathan Brady and Ian Thomas.
Raiders rookies report to training camp today. Mendoza is competing with veterans Kirk Cousins and Aidan O’Connell for the starting job. Cousins currently has taken the most first team reps during offseason activities to this point.
In 2025, Mendoza led the Hoosiers to their first national championship and an undefeated 16-0 season. He started all 16 games and finished 273-of-379 passing (72.0%) for 3,535 yards, 41 touchdowns and six interceptions.
He led the FBS in passing touchdowns (41) and set a single-season school record with a 72.0% completion percentage (third in FBS). Mendoza was the only FBS quarterback since at least 1996 with multiple games of at least a 90.0% and four touchdown passes against Power 4 opponents, while also being the only FBS quarterback with six games of four-plus touchdown passes and zero interceptions.
Mendoza was named Heisman Trophy winner, Associated Press Player of the Year, Associated Press All-American First Team, Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, All-Big Ten First Team, and the Walter Camp, Davey O’Brien and Maxwell Award winner.
MORE NFL CONTRACT DETAILS:
- D’Angelo Ponds
- Elijah Sarratt
- Aiden Fisher
- Riley Nowakowski
- Kaelon Black
- Pat Coogan
- Omar Cooper, Jr.
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