Fernando Mendoza's Card Market Before His Preseason Debut Tonight
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With the heart of preseason football kicking off tonight, it means we get our first look at the 2026 No. 1 pick, Fernando Mendoza, in a Raiders uniform going up against NFL competition. Since he's been drafted, he's seen multiple five-figure sales.
How will the market react to his first game with the Raiders? Especially with 2026 Topps Flagship Football not on shelves until late next week?
Fernando Mendoza's Market Since The Draft
Since the Raiders took Indiana's National Championship-winning quarterback No. 1 overall, Mendoza's market has been soaring even with limited inventory and no pack-pulled pro uniform cards. His Bowman 1st Superfractor in a BGS 9 sold for $71,998 in late June.
We've also seen a few of his Topps NOW Draft Night Autographs pop up in his top 20 all-time sales. This Black /10 Topps Now Draft Night Auto is fourth-highest-selling card of all-time at $25,000 back in late May.
In total, three of his top 5 sales have come since the 2026 NFL Draft took place and half of his top 20 sales have been since Draft night.
While the Topps NOW cards have fallen off a bit, another Black /10 Autograph sold for just $11,000 on August 10th, the high-end Bowman 1st market remains strong.
Will Preseason Impact Mendoza's Pricing?
At this point, it feels like it has been baked into Mendoza's pricing that he is going to sit behind Kirk Cousins for most of the season. It certainly hasn't helped that Cousins has had a solid training camp so far, but any hope of Mendoza magically winning the job over Cousins has been dispelled early on in camp.
So will a good preseason game jump his market?
It could, and probably should, given where some of the Topps NOW autographs have gone since the Draft. Without 2026 Topps Flagship on shelves for another week, it is hard to judge the market. The Topps NOW base cards and Topps NOW Autographs usually do take a backseat behind officially licensed cards, and with the release so close, it isn't a shock that the market is dipping on Draft Night Autographs.
While looking at Card Ladder, one thing I noticed was the number of 2025 Bowman U Chrome Hobby and Jumbo boxes that were sold in the last two weeks. There were more sold since mid-July than there were in all of June. Is that football season ramping up, or did everyone put Fernando Mendoza in the title to sell the chase, knowing Flagship was a month out?
Tough to say, but it is interesting how many people used Mendoza to sell 2025 Bowman U Chrome Football boxes.
Mendoza is Still the Chase in Flagship
Regardless of how his market looks now, in a week he will be the number one chase in 2026 Topps Flagship Football, and his top sale will likely be eclipsed by one (or more) of the autographs in this product. He's on the cover, after all!
The market is going to go crazy for Mendoza whether he is 2-for-3 for 20 yards or 18-for-18 with 250 yards and 3 touchdowns. The interesting thing has been that his Bowman 1st cards have held strong even after the draft and introduction of his Topps NOW Draft Night Autos; what will be interesting to see is how they perform once Topps Chrome and other higher-end sets drop.
Until then, we sit back and watch the No. 1 pick for the first time in the NFL.
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Brendan has worked for various platforms, including The Washington Post, SB Nation, NBC Sports Washington, and more, covering everything from college basketball to fantasy football and betting. An avid collector as a kid, he got back into collecting in 2021 and is a dedicated soccer, football, and basketball collector.
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