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As a former NFL vice president of football operations, personnel scout, director of college scouting, director of player operations and vice president for player operations, Joe Mendes brings 25 years of NFL experience to Cornerstone.
Mendes most recently served as Vice President of Football Operations for the Washington Redskins where he reported solely to owner Daniel Snyder. Mendes oversaw player personnel, the college draft, free agency, contract negotiations, salary cap, and the day-to-day football operations of the entire organization.
Joe Mendes has long been recognized as one of the top talent evaluators and contract negotiators in the National Football League. He has the respect and confidence of agents, owners, league personnel executives, and players. Joe has negotiated contracts with players such as: Hall-of-Famers Bruce Smith, Darrell Green and Deion Sanders; along with NFL all-pros including Champ Bailey, Lavar Arrington, Chris Samuels, Jon Jansen, and Stephen Davis.
During his career, Mendes has evaluated and played a major role in drafting more than a dozen Pro Bowlers who have made nearly 50 trips to Hawaii. He also has been a member of two Super Bowl teams, including the 1979 Los Angeles Rams and the 1985 New England Patriots. Some of his notable draft selections, which went on to earn Pro Bowl recognition, include Rich Gannon, Ben Coates, Irving Fryar, Bruce Armstrong, and a recent addition to the Pro Football Hall-of-Fame, Andre Tippet.
Mendes first joined the Redskins in 1993 as the NFL's first "capologist" by successfully guiding the Redskins through the difficult task of applying the NFL's critical salary cap guidelines. He came aboard after a short stint with the San Diego Chargers after spending 12 years with the New England Patriots, the last two as Vice President of Player Operations.
After successful completion of draftee contract negotiations in July of 2000, Mendes resigned from the Redskins. In the fall of 2001, Mendes worked briefly as a consultant for LMM, a sports representation agency based in Phoenix, Arizona. After the conclusion of the 2001 season, Daniel Snyder, owner of the Redskins, asked Mendes to return as his Vice President of Football Operations.
Mendes joined the NFL in 1978 as a college scout with the Los Angeles Rams under the late, and then general manager, Dick Steinberg. He then followed Steinberg to the New Orleans Saints in 1980 before again moving with Steinberg to the Patriots as his Director of College Scouting.
Mendes is a 1974 graduate of Chico State University where he also spent one year at Chico as a graduate assistant coach. He then had stops at Hawaii of the World Football League and the University of California. Mendes began his scouting career in 1977 when Mike Giddings gave him the great opportunity to learn the profession under his mentorship at Pro Scout Inc.
Since leaving the NFL, Mendes has created the firm Cornerstone Sports Consulting, which provides a quality educational program to assist the university in educating and preparing the student-athlete and his family with regard to his potential career in the NFL.
Raised on a dairy farm and a native of the Northern California town of Ferndale, Joe and his wife, Sandy, have one son, Joey, and reside in Leesburg, VA.
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