{"id":780632,"date":"2026-02-27T20:41:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T20:41:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/780632\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T20:41:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T20:41:12","slug":"fernando-mendoza-claims-one-nfl-team-suggested-he-get-arrested-to-tank-draft-stock-indiana-hoosiers-las-vegas-raiders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/780632\/","title":{"rendered":"Fernando Mendoza claims one NFL team suggested he get arrested to tank draft stock Indiana Hoosiers Las Vegas Raiders"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is little to no doubt that Indiana<\/a> quarterback Fernando Mendoza<\/a> is going to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft at the end of April. The Las Vegas Raiders need a quarterback and he appears to be the pick.<\/p>\n

While it looks like he will be off the board in one pick, that isn\u2019t stopping Mendoza from holding meetings with other NFL teams. Some formal, some informal. And in some of those meetings, he is being told some crazy things. One team apparently even suggested Mendoza should get arrested to hurt his draft stock and slide down the board so they could pick him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was, \u2018Hey, maybe you should get arrested.\u2019 I was like \u2014 I was a little confused,\u201d Mendoza said in an interview with CBS Sports\u2019 Aditi Kinkhabwala<\/a>. \u201cBut then (I realized) it was like to slide (in the NFL Draft.)\u201d<\/p>\n

There are plenty of teams that could have been the culprit of the crazy suggestion for Mendoza. The New York Jets, Arizona Cardinals, Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins are all teams in the Top 15 picks that are likely to be looking for a quarterback. Could it be one of them?<\/p>\n

Mendoza would not bill the beans, unfortunately. He was willing to share the story, but would not go as far as telling CBS which team it was that told him to get locked up.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was not one of the teams I had a formal interview with,\u201d Mendoza said. \u201cSo I\u2019m not gonna \u2014 I don\u2019t want to expose the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raiders, Tom Brady interested in Mendoza<\/p>\n

Assuming it is the Raiders who take Mendoza at No. 1 overall, they will be getting a star to hopefully turn things around for a franchise currently in search of answers. Mendoza carried the Hoosiers to an undefeated season and national championship, throwing for 3,535 yards, 41 touchdowns and just six interceptions this past season.<\/p>\n

Las Vegas will not turn in its draft card until that Thursday night in Pittsburgh, but team ownership is clearly fond of Mendoza. Former NFL quarterback and minority owner Tom Brady spoke about Mendoza<\/a> with Colin Cowherd in late January.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t been to a college football game in so long,\u201d\u00a0Brady said on The Herd<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019d never been to a national championship game. But just to see the environment, the atmosphere. Did it feel too big for anybody? He played tremendous all season \u2013 16-0, leading his team.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s another guy that when you hear him speak. I always kind of judge quarterbacks, I go, \u2018How would I have answered that?\u2019 He\u2019s just a very mature young man. He\u2019s got a bright future.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There is little to no doubt that Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza is going to be the No. 1…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":780633,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[26735,110502,7,49,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-780632","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-fernando-mendoza-22-columbus","9":"tag-fernando-mendoza-indiana-qb","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-ncaa","12":"tag-ncaa-football"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116144536690494703","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=780632"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780632\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/780633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=780632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=780632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=780632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}