'It's Great.' Mendoza Ready To Get Raiders Career Underway

The Las Vegas Raiders have had an eventful past few weeks, which were filled with a flurry of moves in free agency and the NFL Draft. Las Vegas quickly improved one of the worst rosters in the National Football League by aggressively addressing its roster needs this offseason.

The Raiders have undoubtedly upgraded in many ways this offseason.

Raiders Are Getting Ready

Las Vegas added at least one player to every position group this offseason, completing one of the best offseasons the organization has had in some time. On paper, Las Vegas is undoubtedly better than they were last season or the season before, but football games are not played or won on paper.

The Raiders recently began their offseason programs. Most recently, Las Vegas conducted its rookie minicamp. The Raiders are officially preparing for the upcoming season. After an offseason full of excitement, Las Vegas and its many new parts can finally get back to just playing football.

Few, if any, players on the Raiders' roster have had as much going on in their personal or professional lives as No. 1 overall pick, Fernando Mendoza. He enters the 2026 season behind veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins, but the start of offseason workout programs is his welcome to the league.

Mendoza recently explained how eager he is to move past his eventful past few months to play football. Officially a Raider, Mendoza can finally focus on improving his skills and developing moving forward. Already a focused individual, Mendoza plans on taking things to another level.

“Out of all those great milestones, I'm really happy about these past two days, because it's back to football. It's good. And I really enjoyed college. The Hoosiers were able to end off on a high point, and now back to the bottom of the totem pole,” Mendoza said.

“Yesterday, I was like, 'Wow, I have a lot to work on, and wow, the NFL players, everybody here in rookie camp, these are all really, really good players.' So, I need to elevate my level of play so then when we go to OTAs next week and training camp. So, it's good to start back on the bottom of the totem pole. I have a lot to learn and a lot of growing with great coaches and great players around me. I'm excited to do it."

Raiders' Move

Mendoza's eagerness is shared by everyone on the roster. Veterans showed up to voluntary minicamp, and the rookies followed that up with a minicamp of their own. Soon, they will move to Organized Team Activities and training camp, which will only add to everyone's excitement.

Las Vegas has had a challenging past few seasons. Their offseason programs for the 2026 season give them a chance to begin turning the page from a forgettable recent memory filled with losses and bad football. The Raiders aim to improve on the field, not just on paper, in offseason moves.

"It's good. It's great. It's great to finally be back in football and have that information, and that's how you want it. You want it to be overwhelming, because when you are - it doesn't need a negative connotation, but when you're positively stressed by getting a lot of information, it allows you to grow,” Mendoza said.

“And so, all of us rookies and tryout guys, being able to get "stressed" by the information - I say that in quotation marks - will allow us to grow. And we saw that from day one to day two, so it's been a great opportunity. I think it's really going to help us rookies going into OTAs."

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