The Raiders are all but certainly drafting Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza with the No. 1 overall draft pick next month, setting up a new era in Las Vegas.
The Raiders have struggled to find a strong starting quarterback ever since Derek Carr left the franchise after the 2022 season. The team tried out three starting quarterbacks in 2023, then two new ones the following year. Last season, Geno Smith landed with Las Vegas to join former Seahawks coach Pete Carroll. The Smith–Carroll experiment was a major failure, as the Raiders finished with the worst record in the league, 3–14. Carroll was fired, and Smith was traded to the Jets.
The organization is hoping Mendoza is the answer they’ve been looking for in recent years. The reigning Heisman winner and national champion will have a lot of pressure put on him when he arrives in Las Vegas.
It sounds like Mendoza already has a valuable supporter in his corner as Carr recently talked about the rookie quarterback on his podcast with his brother David. Carr wishes the absolute best for Mendoza, and he hopes the 22-year-old outplays him on the Raiders. You don’t hear that often from a retired quarterback—normally they would want their legacy in a franchise cemented in some way.
“I hope Fernando Mendoza breaks every Raider record,” Carr said. “As a former quarterback, if you feel any other way, there’s something wrong with you. ... Why wouldn’t you want the next generation to do better than you? Like, I want the best for everybody.”
Derek Carr hopes Fernando Mendoza breaks every #Raiders QB record 👀
— Nick Walters (@nickwalt) March 19, 2026
Except his record for comebacks since Mendoza should have late leads. And jokingly the record for most screws in an ankle thanks to Carr's broken fibula surgery in 2016.
🎥 Home Grown with David & Derek Carr pic.twitter.com/YNWKUffZRn
The only record Carr is O.K. with keeping? The record for most comebacks in Raiders history. Carr also noted that he doesn’t want Mendoza to have the record for “the amount of screws in your right ankle.”
Derek Carr Raiders records
Carr left a lasting impact on the Raiders during his nine seasons with the franchise. He broke various passing records, including the for the most passing yards (35,222), passing touchdowns (217), pass completions (3,201) and pass attempts (4,958)
Mendoza will likely need to remain a Raider for nearly as long as Carr did in order to surpass these records.
Raiders’ plan at quarterback
Raiders general manager John Spytek previously said Mendoza may not start for the team right off the bat, although that plan may have changed since Smith’s departure. The only other quarterback on the roster right now is Aidan O’Connell, who made 17 total starts across his first two seasons with Las Vegas.
In the meantime, the Raiders are highly believed to be in the market for a veteran quarterback to add to the roster to mentor Mendoza. Some of the names thrown around as possibilities include Kirk Cousins, Joe Flacco and Jimmy Garoppolo.
What about Carr coming out of retirement to mentor Mendoza in Las Vegas and reunite with his former team? Back in February, it was reported that Carr would consider returning to the NFL if the situation was right. He likely drew inspiration from Philip Rivers, who came out of retirement after five years to join the Colts amidst their quarterback struggles. He started in three games for Indianapolis.
Carr later shared the conditions he requires to unretire from football.
“Would I do it? Absolutely I would do it,” Carr said on his podcast last month. “I told you two things. I’d have to be healthy and I would want a chance to win a Super Bowl. Obviously that’s a tough thing to find. That’s hard to do. That’s not easy.”
The Raiders aren’t necessarily on the path to winning a Super Bowl in the near future, so the cards might not play right.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Why Derek Carr Hopes Fernando Mendoza Breaks All His Raiders Records.
