Daily Sports Minute for Friday, July 24rd

Mendoza signs rookie contract with Raiders

NFL first overall pick quarterback Fernando Mendoza signed his rookie contract with the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday. Mendoza signed a four-year, $57.27 million deal with a fifth-year option. All ten Raiders' from the 2026 draft class is now under contract and all showed for training camp.

The veteran players will arrive on July 28, with the team's first training camp practice taking place the following day. With Mendoza now under a contract, Los Angeles Rams quarterback Ty Simpson is the only first-round pick that is unsigned. Mendoza is the first player that the Raiders drafted first overall since JaMarcus Russell in 2007. Russell was one of the biggest busts drafted in NFL history.

Mendoza will compete with veterans Kirk Cousins and Aidan O'Connell for the starting quarterback position. Cousins currently has the upper hand with experience and he has received most of the first-team reps with the Raiders' offseason program. So far, Mendoza has played with the third team and had occasional reps with the second-team offense.

The Raiders signed Cousins in the offseason, with the expectation that he could be the starter to begin the year, allowing the team to be patient with Mendoza's development and be a mentor for last year's Heisman Trophy winner.

LeBron makes a decision, signs with Sixers for two years

LeBron James, left the Los Angeles Lakers and even considered retiring. Instead, James decided to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday, what he said was his final run at another NBA championship. James, 41 years of age, is signing a two-year, $8 million contract with a player option with the 76ers. James made around $53 million with the Los Angeles Lakers last season.

Philadelphia hasn't won a NBA Championship in 43 years. That Sixer team consisted of Julius "Dr. J" Erving, Moses Malone, and Maurice Cheeks. LeBron did win a NBA Championship in Cleveland in 2016, which was a 52-year drought for the Cavs during that time. This will be James twenty-fourth season in the league.

James will team up with Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and Jaylen Brown to see if they can win the title in 2027. Most thought James would go to either Cleveland or Miami. Now, there are too many "A" type personalities on this Sixers team and you know that James or Embiid cannot play a 82-game season without some type of injury.

The game of basketball has changed since I was a child when players didn't jump from team to team. Players stayed with who drafted them and won championships. You didn't see Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson or Larry Bird leave their team to win a championship. Those three won with who was around them.

Rookie quarterback Pavia cut by Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens waived rookie quarterback Diego Pavia on Thursday to make room for veteran center Ethan Pocic, who officially signed his free agent contract. Baltimore signed Pavia as an undrafted free agent last April. Pavia was the the first Heisman Trophy finalist in twelve years to go undrafted.

Even though Pavia got waived, the Ravens still have four quarterbacks on their roster which is a full room with starter Lamar Jackson, veterans Tyler Huntley and Skylar Thompson, along with undrafted former UConn QB Joe Fagnano.The Ravens agreed to a one-year contract with Pocic last week that carries a maximum value of $4.5 million

Pavia finished second among all FBS players with 334.8 total yards per game and led Vanderbilt to a 10-3 record, which marked the first season in school history with double-digit wins. Last season, Pavia threw 29 touchdown passes and ten rushing touchdowns. He was named first-team All-American and SEC Offensive Player of the Year and won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award as the best upperclassman quarterback in college football.

During his predraft process, there were many questions about Pavia's age of 24, his lack of height at five-feet, ten inches and his decision-making off the field. After finishing runner-up to Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza last December, Pavia made a post on Instagram of a photo with the caption "F- ALL THE VOTERS" along with a thumbs-down emoji on social media. Pavia eventually apologized for those comments.