KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Fernando Mendoza and Mike Washington Jr. are the two Raiders rookies invited to the 2026 NFLPA Rookie Premiere
• The event runs May 14 in Los Angeles – 42 rookies total will attend
• It’s the first step into the business side of the NFL: meeting brands, trying on uniforms, and learning the marketing game
• Mendoza is the headliner – he and Cardinals RB Jeremiyah Love headline an invite list stacked with 2026’s best

THE NEWS

The moment a rookie’s name gets called, the football part is over. What comes next is a business – and for Fernando Mendoza and Mike Washington Jr., that lesson starts in two weeks.

The Las Vegas Raiders’ two highest-profile draft picks have been invited to the 2026 NFLPA Rookie Premiere, set for May 14 in Los Angeles. They’ll be among 42 first-year players in attendance, exposed to brands looking to lock in partnerships with the next faces of the sport.

Mendoza, taken No. 1 overall a week ago, is the headliner. He comes in as the Heisman Trophy winner, a national champion, and the quarterback the Raiders are building their entire franchise around. The Rookie Premiere isn’t just a photo op – it’s where careers start to become enterprises. Brands will be watching, and the league will be watching the brands.

Washington Jr., the Raiders’ fourth-round pick at running back, rounds out the duo. At 6-foot-1, 225 pounds, he’s built to be a between-the-tackles complement to Ashton Jeanty – but he also has the profile that plays well off the field. He’ll get his first taste of the marketing machine this spring.

For the Raiders, having two rookies in this room matters. It’s one thing to get drafted. It’s another to be in the first wave of players brands decide to invest in. Mendoza was always going to be there. The fact that Washington Jr. made the cut is a signal about the kind of player the Raiders are bringing in.

WALK THE PLANK

Let’s be real about what this event actually is.

The NFLPA Rookie Premiere is corporate speed-dating with a football jersey. Brands show up. Rookies show up. Deals get made before pads ever get broken. It’s the first crack at the real money – the endorsement money, the sponsorship money, the kind that keeps paying long after the playing career ends.

Mendoza was going to get his slice of that regardless. He’s the No. 1 pick, a Heisman winner, and the face of a franchise that just handed him the keys. But the way this league works now, brands aren’t just looking at the stars – they’re looking for stories. And Washington Jr. has one. Fourth-round pick, big frame, came from nowhere to get here. That’s the kind of story a brand can build around.

What matters most is what happens after the event. The photo ops fade. The deals get signed. Then the real work begins – and both of these guys will be on the field in pads before anyone expects it.

Enjoy the moment. Then go prove it was earned.