Should we be worried that Fernando Mendoza has yet to sign his rookie contract with the Raiders?
There doesn’t seem to be any concern among media personalities covering the team, but it’s also fair to wonder what is going on.
According to several reports, the holdup with Mendoza’s contract is most likely related to his signing bonus, specifically the timeline around when the money will be paid.
In recent years, the Raiders have paid 77.5 percent of the signing bonus(es) due to their first-round picks within 15 days of signed contract. After that, another 12.5 percent in September and the final 10 percent in October.
Raider Nation Radio host Q Myers talked about Mendoza’s contract on Monday, and he believes the situation will be resolved by the end of the month.
“The Raiders always operate differently, right? So 77.5 percent within the 15 days of signing contract for Jeanty, Bowers and Wilson, which are the last three first round picks for the Silver and Black. So that’s all it comes down to. It just comes down to when that signing bonus is going to get paid,” Myers said on the Locked on Raiders podcast.
“The payment of the signing bonus is the hold up. So nothing I don’t think to get too concerned about. It’s something that’s obviously going to get done sooner rather than later. And even if he ends up having to settle for 77.5 percent within the first 15 days of the signing of the contract, that’s not too bad of a signing bonus. And then obviously the rest of it will get paid sooner rather than later. I’m assuming that this is going to happen and get done, taken care of really, I think, before training camp opens up.”
Thanks to the NFL’s rookie wage scale, holdouts have become a rarity for first-year players and the risk of a player like Mendoza missing time is almost none.
It’s a talking point among some that Mendoza has not yet signed, but nothing to be concerned about for Raider fans still thinking back to 2007.
x: @raidersbeat