Usually, high-profile rookie quarterbacks have their contracts inked well before the heat of the summer arrives. However, Fernando Mendoza and Ty Simpson remain unsigned despite being first-round quarterback picks. Former NFL scout Daniel Kelly has offered his take on the situation.

“Some of the things I hear and read coming out of Raiders OTAs make Mendoza sound like a joke,” Kelly wrote on X. “They make him sound like some sort of raw developmental project. Reportedly, he’s running mostly with the 2’s and 3’s (struggled with the 1s), and he’s learning how to take snaps under center—something most children learn how to do when they first start playing quarterback. At this point, they are preaching “patience,” which is the diplomatic way of handling it.”

It’s worth noting that Mendoza was drafted with the expectation of becoming a franchise player in the near future. It was no surprise the QB got drafted by the Raiders; this was known and predicted long before Mendoza wrapped up his 2025 college football season. He was the highlight of the 2026 draft. When the Raiders already had a plan in mind, Mendoza not having a contract signed by now is surprising.

Per Sam Warren of The Athletic, the rookie QB did participate in the second and third-team offenses. Some of his passes were batted away, and there were also incompletions. And, like every expert has been saying so far, Mendoza still needs to work on transitioning from shotgun to center – a position he rarely played in college.

Per CBS Sports’ Joel Corry, the holdup has to do with how teams deal with signing bonuses for rookies.

“Ever since starting in 2020 with Joe Burrow, the first overall pick has gotten a signing bonus in a lump sum,” he said on Locked On Raiders. “That may be paid within 15 days of signing, 30 days of signing, but it comes in one payment, not in installments. Now, Raiders pay their first-round pick signing bonuses a little bit differently. Ashton Jeanty, Brock Bowers, Tyree Wilson, the last few first-round picks got 77.5% of their total signing bonus within 15 days of signing, 12.5% in mid-September, and the final 10% in mid-October. So this is really over how the signing bonus is gonna be paid.”

By this analysis, Mendoza should have a significant amount of the $38.1 million signing bonus already chalked out for him. But with minicamp done, we should be expecting the rookie to put pen to paper soon.

Ty Simpson, however, is another concern.

“Sean McVay did not look or sound like he was on board at all with the Simpson pick when they showed his initial unrehearsed reaction,” Kelly added. “The Rams are built to win now. I can’t imagine internal excitement about the prospect of a rookie quarterback being the backup and putting their 2026 chances in the hands of a rookie if Matthew Stafford gets injured, and I can’t imagine a team wanting to pay big money to a third-string quarterback.” 

Simpson should be signing a rookie contract worth $25.4 million, per Sportrac.

The contract language for Simpson’s contract will be tricky. He was drafted to be the successor to Matthew Stafford, who is going to be the trump card for the Rams this season. But the idea of Simpson taking over Stafford in case he goes down with an injury is not a very confident one. The rookie had his fair share of troubles as a senior at Alabama because of an abdominal injury.

However, the very reason that Simpson was brought on as Stafford’s successor might push the rookie’s reps to ask for more guaranteed money. The Rams have made a gamble here, and seem to be unsure of how to best protect both their and Simpson’s interests.

Mendoza and Simpson could have staged holdouts during this offseason, as they are still not contractually bound to the team. But since they have both shown their desires to contribute to the team, the Raiders and Rams are now on the clock.