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The 2025 Heisman Trophy winner now has a signed NFL contract, while the runner-up in the voting has an uncertain future in football.
Fernando Mendoza, selected No. 1 in April’s NFL Draft by the Raiders and winner last fall of college football’s top individual prize, completed a four-year, $57.27 million contract with Las Vegas, with a fifth-year team option. The compensation, which will be fully guaranteed, was already established as part of the league’s pre-set rookie scale. Mendoza, however, was the last of the Raiders’ 10-player draft class this year to sign his contract, in part due to ongoing negotiations over the timing of his signing bonus.
Diego Pavia, formerly of Vanderbilt and second to Mendoza in the Heisman Trophy voting, was waived by the Ravens late Thursday, nearly three months after the team brought the quarterback to rookie camp for a tryout and then signed him as an undrafted free agent.
A Study in Contrasts
With the Raiders deal in place, Mendoza will look to be part of a franchise rebuild for a team that has been to the postseason just once since 2017, hasn’t won a postseason game since the 2002 season, and have just two winning seasons since that run to Super Bowl XXXVII 23 years ago.
Mendoza’s total contract value is nearly $3 million higher than the initial projection going into the NFL Draft. Right after the draft, the league finalized the rookie wage scale, and the overall boosts there were related to the establishment and implementation of the record $301.2 million salary cap for the 2026 season.
Mendoza, also a national champion last year at Indiana, will compete for the Raiders starting quarterback job with veteran Kirk Cousins, signed by the Raiders in the offseason to a one-year, $20 million fully guaranteed contract.
“I’m so excited to be a part of the family, and I can’t wait to get to work,” Mendoza said on Instagram.
Pavia, meanwhile, will be searching for a new professional pathway, with potential options including the United Football League and Canadian Football League. Other NFL teams could also look toward Pavia, particularly if injuries or other issues emerge this summer in training camps. In the CFL, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers currently hold negotiating rights with Pavia.
Already the first Heisman Trophy finalist in 12 years to go undrafted, several factors have made Pavia’s professional pursuits a more uphill climb—including his age and below-average size compared to typical NFL quarterbacks.
Pavia turned 24 in February, as he played junior college at the New Mexico Military Institute before transferring to New Mexico State in 2022. That prior history has reared its head in a legal battle in which Pavia alleges that the NCAA violates antitrust law by claiming his years in college football count against his overall eligibility.
He gained a waiver to play for Vanderbilt last year, but he’s more than 19 months older than Mendoza and is similarly advanced in age compared to other rookie quarterbacks—raising questions about his potential ceiling in the NFL.
