The Las Vegas Raiders missed out on an opportunity to add a veteran presence in their QB room, regardless of whether or not they take Fernando Mendoza. If the Silver and Black do take Mendoza, they might not be ready to give him the starting job.
As a result, pursuing a stopgap QB like Flacco to hold the job and mentor Mendoza makes sense for the Raiders. However, on March 24, Flacco decided to re-sign with the Cincinnati Bengals as a backup to Joe Burrow.
Moreover, ESPN NFL insider Jeremy Fowler reported that the Raiders were one of the teams looking to land Flacco. Nonetheless, Fowler revealed the reason the veteran wanted to remain in Cincinnati.
“Flacco had interest from the Las Vegas Raiders, among others,” Fowler wrote on X. “But he liked the setup in Cincinnati coming off last season.”
Raiders’ Jalen Nailor Issues Strong Words for Fernando Mendoza
Despite missing out on Flacco, the Raiders have done their best to bolster the offensive line with the arrival of Tyler Linderbaum and to upgrade their wide receiver group with the signing of Jalen Nailor.
If the Silver and Black do decide to select Mendoza, Nailor would be one of the targets that the rookie signal caller will be throwing the ball to. Ahead of the draft, Nailor shared his thoughts on Mendoza as many expect the 22-year-old to be the Raiders’ next franchise QB.
“[Mendoza is] a football guy,” Nailor told Kay Adams on the March 19 edition of “Up & Adams.” “He’s a football player. He wants to win. The touch he has on his passes, those accurate passes that he makes, really pops out.
“He’s a mobile quarterback; he can get on the ground and run a little bit. Just to have those aspects of him as a quarterback, he’s tall as well, so seeing over the line won’t be an issue. He has all the things you want in a quarterback.”
Rich Gannon Doesn’t Hold Back on Fernando Mendoza
Mendoza had a passer rating of 182.9 with 3,535 yards, 41 touchdowns, and six interceptions in 16 games in 2025, per StatMuse, leading to a Heisman Trophy and national title for the Hoosiers. It will be interesting to see if this production can translate over to the NFL.
With the draft drawing closer, former Raiders QB Rich Gannon shared his thoughts on the franchise selecting Mendoza and the traits he values in the player that will help him be the franchise signal caller in Las Vegas.
“[Mendoza] came on my radio show at the Super Bowl, and there’s one thing that you get an impression of a player and a person, “ Gannon told Raiders host Amber Theoharis in a March 16 video from the team’s YouTube channel. “He’s got presence about him. That’s pretty impressive.
“He’s very thoughtful [and] very mature; he doesn’t give you canned answers. He’s got a ton of energy and passion; he loves football [and] wants to learn. I think he’s got a lot of the qualities and intangibles that you really love with that position.”
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