YD

Projected No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza has informed the NFL that he is not planning to attend the NFL Draft in Pittsburgh this month, per sources. Mendoza wants to share the draft experience with his family in Miami.

New Raiders QB Kirk Cousins will now make $20 million fully guaranteed for playing the 2026 season, per sources. That’s double the $10M guarantee Cousins had left on his Falcons contract, and puts him in line to potentially be the Week 1 starter in Las Vegas. Here’s how it breaks down: 🏈 Falcons pay $8.7M in 2026, with the Raiders paying the $1.3 minimum base salary. 🏈 Raiders pay Cousins a $10M fully guaranteed roster bonus on the third day of the league year next March that is not subject to offsets. 🏈 Raiders hold a two-year, $80M option for 2027-28, which is unlikely (though not impossible) to be picked up. 🏈 The deal also includes two void years in 2029-30 for cap purposes. On paper, it’s a three-year, $81.3M deal (or five for $172M with the void years). In reality, it’s one-year, $20 million for Kirk Cousins, who now will have played under fully guaranteed contracts for 11 consecutive seasons.