In March 2021, Trevor Lawrence, coming out of Clemson, already knew the outcome. The Jacksonville Jaguars weren’t taking anyone else first overall. So when the league offered him a seat in the Draft in Cleveland, he declined. Now, Fernando Mendoza is adopting the same path for the 2026 NFL Draft.

“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,” Adam Schefter reported on X. “Mendoza wants to share the draft experience with his family in Miami.”

The last quarterback to do this was Lawrence, as Schefter reminded in a separate post. But he wasn’t the first one. Baker Mayfield watched from home in 2018. Myles Garrett did the same in 2017. Players skip the draft for two reasons: they know where they’re going, or they don’t care about the stage and instead are focused on sharing the moment with their family. Mendoza checks both boxes.

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Mendoza already has his only top-30 visit lined up with the Las Vegas Raiders on Tuesday, April 7. The Raiders hold the No. 1 pick and are determined to draft him. And, in a lucky break for Vegas, April 7 also happens to be the team’s first day of the offseason workout programs. To cap it all off, NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah recently reported that Mendoza is already studying the Raiders’ playbook under former 49ers quarterbacks coach Brian Griese.

With all of this, the draft night will just be a formality. Mendoza’s just choosing where to watch it. But the draft skip makes more sense once you see what else he’s been building.

Mendoza Building His Off-Field Empire

On Monday, April 6, U.S. Bank was announced as the NFL’s official banking and wealth management sponsor. Fernando Mendoza is the program’s face, carrying the title of  Chief Financial Playmaker. The initiative named ‘Financial Edge’ helps players cover cash flow, savings, long-term wealth, and entrepreneurship after football.

Mendoza wasn’t just chosen because he’s about to be a high pick, either. He graduated from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and is finishing an MBA at Indiana University. The 22-year-old has also shared his ambitions in finance after the NFL, and his experience managing NIL contracts in college will only make things more relevant to NFL stars going through similar decisions.

“He probably has more knowledge and acumen, relative to his age, of other folks coming out of college,” U.S. Bank EVP and chief marketing officer Michael Lacorazza said. “For him to play a central role in helping to launch our new Financial Edge program, it made a ton of sense on so many levels, especially given his visibility as the No. 1 player in the draft.”

On the field, the Raiders have already seen enough. Mendoza threw for 3,535 yards and 41 touchdowns last season. He landed the Heisman Trophy and a national title. By the time Pittsburgh calls his name, Mendoza will have already been in the playbook for weeks and will be running a financial literacy program for the very league that employs him.