The wait is over for Jermod McCoy.
The Raiders swapped picks with the Bills, trading up to No. 101 to select McCoy with the first pick of the fourth round.
McCoy missed the entire 2025 season after suffering a torn ACL in his right knee in January of last year. He elected to skip his final year of eligibility to declare for the draft.
His slide was induced by teams who had concerns about the health of his knee.
McCoy was a one-year starter at Tennessee after playing one season at Oregon State. He was a second-team All-SEC honoree in 2024, recording four interceptions.
Buffalo received a 2027 seventh-round pick from Las Vegas to complete the deal.
Raiders Clips
The Raiders got their franchise quarterback on Thursday night, selecting Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza. They hope they have a shutdown cornerback in round two.
The Raiders selected Arizona defensive back Treydan Stukes at No. 38 overall.
Stukes, a former walk-on, played six seasons in college. He has versatility, having played inside and outside and could be a nickel corner in the NFL.
He finished his long college career with seven interceptions and 29 pass breakups.
The Texans have traded up with the Raiders for the No. 36 overall pick.
With that selection — the fourth of the second round — Houston selected Kayden McDonald out of Ohio State.
One of the top defensive tackles in this year’s class, McDonald stared for just one year at Ohio State. But he was the Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year and a firs-team All-Big Ten honoree.
He appeared in 36 career games with 14 starts for the Buckeyes, tallying 11.0 tackles for loss with three sacks, two forced fumbles, and three passes defensed.
McDonald was the one player left in the green room in Pittsburgh after Thursday night’s selections.
The Texans sent the Raiders No. 38 and No. 91 in exchange for No. 36 and No. 117 in this year’s draft.
It’s finally official: Fernando Mendoza is a Raider.
While Las Vegas selecting Mendoza at No. 1 overall has been virtually guaranteed since the Raiders clinched the top pick, receiving the phone call was still a special moment for the quarterback.
“There’s been a lot of anticipation whether I was going to end up here. And nothing was ever for certain except for tonight, so when I saw that call, I got a whole lot of chills on my entire body, and I was ecstatic,” Mendoza said on a video call with Raiders media just after the selection, via transcript from the team. “There’s a lot of emotion even right now. However, I understand this is not the end of the journey, although this is a celebration, this is a start of a new thing. And like coach [Klint] Kubiak told me on the phone, to stay humble and hungry and to keep on trying to learn every single day.”
Mendoza noted that he would’ve felt like any team would be a good fit, but he felt like the Raiders were the best fit because of the coaching staff. But there are some others around the club, too, he’s looking forward to working with.
“[T]he great ownership ‚ whether it’s Mr. [Mark] Davis, Mr. [Tom] Brady, what [could be] a better situation to walk into?” Mendoza said. “So, I think all the stars are aligning here, and this is a blessing, this position.”
Kubiak’s system has been thought of as a positive for Mendoza, who will enter the league after winning the Heisman Trophy and the CFP National Championship Game in 2025. Mendoza has been studying it already, which is part of why he felt like the Raiders were a great fit.
“I watched a lot of film,” Mendoza said. “I wasn’t necessarily installing this offense. I was installing a general NFL offense, getting more accustomed to under-center play and general West Coast concepts, which does fit under this tree, which now paid off in taking that risk. Talking about fortune favors the bold, rolling the dice on that a little bit.
“But this scheme, it really allows the quarterback to be a point guard. I believe that my job — we have so many great playmakers, whether from the outside, tight end, running back or offensive line, I just need to get the ball to the playmakers and do my part of the offense and be my one-eleventh. And at that point, I believe this offense allows the quarterback to do that with such great coaches. I look forward to immersing myself into it.”
Mendoza’s journey to becoming the No. 1 overall pick has been unlikely, from heading to Cal to transferring to Indiana and leading that program to unprecedented success. While he was the top pick, he’s not taking the chip off his shoulder.
“I believe I’m still the underdog,” Mendoza said. “Although the draft was today, once I got drafted, I’m now part of the NFL, and I can tell you right now I am not one out of 32 — although I was picked today one out of 32 — I’m not one out of 32 quarterbacks at this moment. So, I need to work every single day possible, because I’m on the bottom of the totem pole.
“Whatever everyone is ranking me, I don’t know those specifics, but I’m at the bottom of the totem pole right now, and I’ve go to first earn the respect to my teammates, earn that equity, and I’ve also just got to immerse. And I’m just ready to do whatever the team needs and calls me to do to help them win.”
Mendoza also said he feels like his best attribute he’s bringing to his new team is his resilience.
“I still need to earn it every single day and prove that I can play at this level, at [a] high level, but the resilience, whether it’s a bad practice and be able to take that bump and falling down and using that bump as an accelerator to then learn from it, improve,” Mendoza said. “And so, every step along the way, I pride myself on exponential growth every single year.
“I’ve done it through all my college years, so look forward to keeping that trend up, and that trend is met by hard work, discipline, and unwavering optimism.”
If you made a bet that that the Raiders would make Fernando Mendoza the first overall pick in the 2026 draft at -20000 odds, go get your pennies.
The Raiders, as expected, have made the former Indiana quarterback the top pick.
Mendoza won the Heisman Trophy and led Indiana to the national championship.
The question becomes when will Mendoza play?
The expectation is that veteran Kirk Cousins will be QB1 until Mendoza is ready. In recent years, first-rounders play sooner than later. Patrick Mahomes, of course, sat for his entire rookie year. And that worked out pretty well.
Either way, a franchise that hasn’t won a playoff game since 2002 now has a guy they hope will win plenty.
Fernando Mendoza’s mother, Elsa, has multiple sclerosis, a severe chronic autoimmune disease. She is confined to a wheelchair, creating travel difficulties, which is the reason the Heisman Trophy winner is not attending the draft in Pittsburgh.
It’s also the reason he announced a $500,000 donation to support MS research.
The presumptive No. 1 overall pick is launching the Mendoza Family Fund in partnership with the National MS Society.
“My mom is my light; she is my why,” Fernando said in a video Thursday announcing the foundation.
Mendoza said the foundation is committed to raising over $1 million over the next three years.
“Together, I believe we can end this disease,” Mendoza said in the video.
Dr. Tim Coetzee, president and CEO of the National MS Society, said in a statement: “The Mendoza Family Fund represents the very best of what’s possible when passion meets collective action. Through this partnership, we have an opportunity to channel that momentum into critical research and programs that will change lives and ultimately help us end MS.”
The NFL draft is a TV show. On the first night, the stars are the players who accepted the invitations to walk to the stage, hug the Commissioner, hold up a new jersey, and submit to a mini-car wash of media appearances.
If the players don’t go, that’s a problem. Especially in a draft that is lacking in superstars.
Tonight’s presumptive No. 1 pick by the Raiders, Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza, declined the invitation. The league opted not to take “no, thank you” for an answer.
Via Chris Tomasson of the Denver Gazette, Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning said the league “reached out to me” to “maybe encourage” Fernando Mendoza “to go to the draft.”
Manning did. And Mendoza didn’t change his mind.
Mendoza recently explained his decision to stay home for the draft in an appearance on The Rich Eisen Show. It’s Mendoza’s decision. And whatever decision he or any player make about attending or not attending the draft should be respected.
Obviously, the league wants to prop up the TV show. Although there’s no reason to think an offer to pay Mendoza an appearance fee would have changed his mind, it’s more than appropriate for the players who fill out the Thursday night cast to expect something more than travel and lodging to be picked up by 345 Park Avenue.
Everyone else who’ll be performing on the televised three-ring draft circus tonight will be getting paid. The true stars of the show should get a little something, too.
Former Raiders linebacker Rod Martin has died.
The team announced Martin’s death on Monday. He was 72 years old.
Martin went to USC and joined the Raiders as a 12th-round pick in 1977. He became a starter during his second season and would go on to win two Super Bowl rings while remaining with the team through the 1988 season.
Martin set a Super Bowl record with three interceptions to help beat the Eagles in Super Bowl XV and then had a sack and a fumble recovery as the Raiders rolled to a 38-9 win over Washington in Super Bowl XVIII. He was a first-team All-Pro in 1984 and made a pair of Pro Bowls during his run with the Raiders.
Several players will walk across the stage in Pittsburgh after hearing their name called early on in the 2026 draft later this week.
The probable No. 1 overall pick, quarterback Fernando Mendoza, will not be among them.
It became known earlier this month that Mendoza had let the NFL know he would not attend this year’s draft, instead spending Thursday night at a party at his home in South Florida. Given the nature of his family situation — Mendoza’s mother, Elsa, suffers from Multiple Sclerosis, making it difficult for her to travel — this decision was not much of a surprise. But it also allows Mendoza to spend that time on draft night with a lot more people who mean so much to him.
“Pittsburgh is a great opportunity and it’s a great venue, and I’m really excited to see most of the guys walk across the stage on Thursday night. It will be a dream for a lot of guys,” Mendoza said in an interview with the Rich Eisen Show on Monday. “However, my mom really wanted to do it at home, and so did my parents — it’s a lot easier for us, especially with the family situation. And having to hop on a plane the next morning anyway, for that travel, it’d be a lot easier to stay at home.
“I wanted to stay and make the memory with everybody who poured into my football journey — mentors, coaches, family, friends. Being able to share that moment with all of them is going to be the best memory I can make, rather than limiting it to 10-12 people in Pittsburgh, which is going to be great. And I still want to be the best league partner I can become, make sure there’s however many cameras ESPN want there — whatever they need from me, I will do. However, I think it’s very important to start off this journey with everybody who’s gotten me to this point.”
As Mendoza mentioned, there will be plenty of coverage from Florida as he — in all likelihood — puts on a Raiders hat as a member of the team for the first time. He’ll then head to Southern Nevada for an introductory press conference and the start of his professional career.
Earlier this month, free-agent quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was reportedly “weighing a few options.”
One of those options includes not playing for anyone.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports that Garoppolo is considering retirement.
Garoppolo, 34, was a second-round pick of the Patriots in 2014. Traded to the 49ers, Garoppolo became the starter immediately. He signed after his first season a contract that made him, at the time, the highest-paid player in the NFL.
After the 2022 season, Garoppolo signed with the Raiders as a free agent. He then went to the Rams for 2024 and 2025.
The Cardinals had been linked to Garoppolo in free agency. A snag during contract talks resulted in the Cardinals signing Gardner Minshew.
The Rams, who have only Matthew Stafford and Stetson Bennett on the roster, continue to be interested in Garoppolo.
For now, Garoppolo has to decide whether he’s interested in playing for what would be a 13th NFL season.
