Raiders’ Spytek says teams have inquired about No. 1 draft pick

Henderson, Nev. — The las vegas raiders They are expected to have the first pick and take a quarterback Fernando Mendoza during 2026 nfl draftBut that hasn’t stopped teams from calling general manager Jon Spitek about the possibility of trading the top option.

“We’ve gotten some calls, and those teams know where they stand,” Spytek said at Tuesday’s predraft news conference.

SpyTech has always been open-minded about business proposals. He noted that good results can occur on draft night if a team waits a few moments before making a selection.

But if team leaders are confident about a player, he said, they will keep their draft spot.

“If there’s a player that stands out that we feel is not worth losing to, not worth picking up the phone for, we’ll pick him,” Spytek said. “But if it’s a player that we’re not that excited about, or there’s a group of players that we would love to select, and we can get value for him, then we’re certainly willing to listen to that.”

Mendoza is expected to become the 30th quarterback selected No. 1 in the Common Draft era (since 1967). This will be the fourth consecutive year a quarterback will be selected first, tying for the second-longest streak in the regular draft era.

If Mendoza is drafted by the Raiders, he will be in a quarterback competition with the newly signed veteran cancer cousin And aidan o’connell. spytech and coach Clint Kubiak Love that a rookie quarterback played behind a seasoned veteran.

However, they understand that the best player must play.

“Ultimately, it’s a meritocracy and the best person will play,” Spytek said. “It’s really hard to play really well at a young age. But we’ve seen a lot of quarterbacks do that lately. We added Kirk, we have Aiden, and we’ll see how it goes.”

The last six quarterbacks to be drafted No. 1 — cam ward, Caleb Williams, bryce young, trevor lawrence, joe burro And kyler murray — started in the first week of his rookie season. The last person who wasn’t was Baker Mayfield In 2018. For Spytek, patience is a necessity when dealing with a young quarterback, even though he understands it can be challenging to show up in this league.

“It’s a tough position to play, and there’s a lot to learn besides how to throw. [a] football and being a good teammate,” Spytek said. “A lot of these guys spend their whole lives shotgun [formation]. They don’t crowd. You really have to teach some of these guys how to form a group, how to break a group, how to get under center and create a rhythm.”

He added, “We all understand that the job we’ve chosen here doesn’t require an iota of patience, but if you can find some level of patience and put people in positions when they’re ready, that’s the best way to move forward.”