NFL Addresses Lack of Fernando Mendoza, Raiders in Primetime Games

With teams recently revealing their NFL schedules for the 2026 season, the schedule makers notably left several squads out of appearing in any primetime games, including Fernando Mendoza and the Las Vegas Raiders.

Everyone projected Mendoza as the No. 1 pick for months leading up to the NFL Draft, and Las Vegas made good on that last month with commissioner Goodell calling his name first. With that, he’ll carry expectations of helping turn around a struggling Raiders team.

It’s unclear whether he’ll be starting all season, but it seems bizarre not to include him in at least one spotlight game during primetime, such as ESPN and ABC’s “Monday Night Football” or Amazon Prime’s “Thursday Night Football.”

Unfortunately, being left out of significant television slots comes with being incredibly bad last season, as the Raiders won just three games and finished at the bottom of the AFC West.

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However, all may not be lost yet, as NFL VP of Broadcasting and Planning and Scheduling Mike North indicated the Raiders still have a shot at appearing in a primetime game before the 2026-27 season ends.

“These teams have every opportunity to play themselves into bigger windows,” North told Rich Eisen. “We always say you play your way into primetime. You don’t draft your way into primetime.”

“Look, if the Raiders have a better-than-we-thought, unexpected season, that’s what flexible scheduling is for down the stretch, those last five [or] six weeks of the season,” he stated on “The Rich Eisen Show.”

North suggested that if the Raiders are doing well this season, it’s likely because their divisional rivals, the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Chargers, are not doing as well. Those two teams made the postseason, while Las Vegas, at 3-14, did not.

Additionally, the Broncos nearly reached the Super Bowl, although they lost their star quarterback, Bo Nix, to a rough injury during the playoffs just before the AFC Championship Game.

Another team left off the primetime schedule is the Tennessee Titans, who feature last year’s No. 1 pick Cam Ward. They also added talented Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate, who could further improve their chances of playing well.

And let’s be honest, it would be extremely surprising if the Raiders were in the mix for a playoff spot, but there’s always that possibility. Their current over/under for wins in the 2026 season is 5.5, with the over favored, so they could double last season’s total.

While Mendoza is certainly worthy of being the top pick and could be the future of the franchise, he or another starting QB would have to really have an amazing run to take this team into primetime this season.

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This story was originally published May 15, 2026 at 6:24 PM.