The Holdouts Still Standing: What Fernando Mendoza and Ty Simpson's Unsigned Status Tells Us About 2026 Draft Negotiations and the Future of Rookie Deals

You know, in all my years watching this game, I've seen plenty of negotiations go sideways, and I've seen plenty go smooth as butter. When you've got 31 other first-round picks in the 2026 class all signed up and locked in, and you've still got a couple holdouts sitting on the sideline, that tells you something real important about what's happening at the negotiating table. It's not just about the money, though that's always part of it. It's about leverage, timing, and sometimes just plain old stubbornness on one side or the other.

Let me back up and paint the picture for you, because this is the kind of situation that doesn't make a lot of headlines but matters more than people think. When you draft a player in the first round of the NFL Draft, there's supposed to be a pretty clear path to getting that kid signed and in the building. The rookie wage scale was put in place to do exactly that, to create a structure where everyone knows what they're getting and everyone knows what they're paying. It's like a playbook for money, and for the most part, it works pretty darn well. Teams and agents can look at the chart, they can plug in the pick number, and they can get down to brass tacks without a whole lot of drama.

But then you get situations like what we're seeing with Fernando Mendoza and Ty Simpson, and you have to ask yourself what's different about their cases. Both these kids were drafted in the first round. Both of them went to NFL teams who very much want to get them on the field and working. And yet here we are, with the offseason moving along and these two young men still unsigned. That's not normal. That's not the way this business usually works, and when something breaks from the norm in professional football, you better start paying attention because there's always a reason.

The thing about the rookie wage scale is that it was designed to take the drama out of first-round negotiations. Back in the day, you had absolute knockdown drag-out fights between players and teams over every penny for top picks. Eli Manning held out. John Elway had his whole situation. These negotiations would drag on into the summer and sometimes right up to training camp, and it created tension and uncertainty that nobody really needed. So the league and the players' association came together and said, look, we're going to create this framework. You pick at this spot, here's what you're going to make. Done deal. Sign here.

And it works, it really does. For most players, especially kids who understand that getting on the field and making an impact is worth more than holding out for an extra million or two, the system moves along just fine. Teams sign their picks, players get to OTAs, everybody gets familiar with the system and the playbook and the coaching staff. It's efficient. It's clean. It's the way business should work.

Now, when you've got 31 out of 33 first-round picks signed and two still holding out, you have to look at the specific circumstances. And here's what's interesting about football negotiations: the devil is always in the details. It's not always about the base salary or the signing bonus or the guaranteed money, though those are certainly part of it. Sometimes it's about incentives. Sometimes it's about conditions. Sometimes it's about how the money is structured and when it gets paid and what happens if the kid gets injured. Those things might seem like small details to somebody on the outside, but to an agent representing a young man's interests and his family, those details can mean millions of dollars when you factor in the long-term implications.

Fernando Mendoza and Ty Simpson are smart kids, and their agents are representing them the right way. You don't get to the first round of the NFL Draft without being intelligent and having people in your corner who know how to navigate this business. So when negotiations stretch longer than usual, it usually means that there's something specific that the two sides haven't been able to agree on. Maybe it's about workout bonuses or production incentives. Maybe it's about guarantees or the structure of how those guarantees work. Maybe it's about things that happen if the player gets hurt or if the situation changes. These are the kinds of things that can add up to real money over the course of a contract.

What's important to understand is that this isn't necessarily adversarial in a bad way. This is just how negotiation works sometimes. You've got a team that wants to protect itself and manage its salary cap in a smart way. You've got a player and his agent who want to make sure that young man is taken care of and that his interests are protected. These aren't enemies. They're just two sides trying to find middle ground on a business deal. Sometimes middle ground takes a little longer to find.

The other thing that matters here is that both these players are looking at their first professional contract, which is a lot different from what happens later in a career. When you're a veteran who's proven yourself in the league, you've got leverage based on what you've done. You can point to statistics and film and say, here's what I'm worth. But when you're coming in as a rookie, even a first-round rookie, you're negotiating largely on potential and draft position. You don't have the film to point to. You don't have the proof yet. You're negotiating on what people think you can become, not what you've already done. That's a different kind of negotiation, and it requires a different kind of approach.

What this situation really tells us is that the rookie wage scale system, while generally effective, isn't perfect. There are still gray areas. There are still details that matter. There are still situations where a team and a player's representatives can see things differently. The fact that we're in August and still have unsigned first-round picks is unusual enough to make you pay attention, but it's not so unusual that it's a total shock. These things happen occasionally, and they usually get resolved before training camp is in full swing.

The reason fans should care about this is because it affects when these kids get into the building and how prepared they can be for the season. A first-round pick who signs early and gets through the entire offseason program, who learns the system and builds relationships with his teammates and coaches, that kid has a head start. He's going to have a better chance to contribute as a rookie. A kid who signs late or who misses part of training camp, he's playing catch-up. He's learning while he's supposed to be performing. That can make a real difference in whether a player develops properly and whether he justifies his draft position.

It also tells you something about the teams involved and how they operate. Some organizations have a reputation for getting things done quickly and smoothly. Other organizations seem to have friction points that show up in these negotiations more often. The way a team handles contract talks with its young players says something about the organization's culture and priorities. It says something about whether the front office and the coaching staff are really aligned on what they want to accomplish.

The most likely outcome here is that both Mendoza and Simpson get signed before training camp starts in earnest. These things almost always get worked out because both sides understand that nobody wins if the kid isn't on the field learning the system. But the fact that it's taken this long, and the fact that these two are the exceptions among the 2026 first-round class, tells us there's something specific about their situations that took a little longer to sort out. Maybe the agents pushed harder. Maybe the teams held firm on certain conditions. Maybe there were just some specific details that took time to work through. Whatever the reason, it's a reminder that even with a standardized system, professional football negotiations can still get a little messy sometimes, and that's just part of how this business works.