Canadian offensive lineman Niklas Henning has signed an NFL contract with the Las Vegas Raiders after taking part in the team’s rookie mini-camp from Friday, May 1 to Sunday, May 3. The move keeps the 6-foot-6, 298-pound lineman in the NFL pipeline and pulls him away from a second rookie mini-camp invitation, this one from the Indianapolis Colts.
Henning was selected second overall in the 2026 CFL Draft by the Toronto Argonauts on Tuesday, April 28, but he is now headed into a different camp calendar in Las Vegas. The Raiders have organized team activities through May and into June, and they also hold a mandatory mini-camp from June 6 through 11, giving Henning a chance to continue making a case for a roster spot.
The contract comes days after Henning finished the rookie mini-camp window in Las Vegas, where prospects compete against draft picks and undrafted free-agent signees for early attention from the staff. He had also been invited to rookie mini-camp with Indianapolis, scheduled for Thursday, May 7 to Sunday, May 10, but will not attend after signing with the Raiders.
Henning arrives with a résumé that has made him one of the more notable Canadian linemen in recent years. He helped Queen’s University win the 117th Yates Cup in 2025 and was named a first-team Ontario University Athletics conference all-star and a second-team All-Canadian that same year. In 2023, he was a second-team All-Canadian after registering seven receptions for 104 yards and one touchdown, production that helped show how unusual his path has been for an offensive lineman.
At the 2026 CFL Combine, Henning posted a 4.90-second 40-yard dash, a 4.82-second short shuttle, a 7.77 three-cone drill, a 31.5-inch vertical jump and a nine-foot, six-inch broad jump. He also reped 225 pounds 27 times on the bench press, a workout line that helped reinforce the athletic profile he carried into the draft.
His route to this point has been far from ordinary. Born outside Munich, Germany, Henning came to Canada with his family when he was two years old and was raised in Milton, Ontario, where he attended Craig Kielburger Secondary School. In 2024, he auditioned for CFL teams at the U Sports East-West Bowl as a tight end before his stock rose sharply the following seasons.
The Raiders signing does not erase Henning’s CFL status. Toronto still owns his CFL rights in perpetuity after making him the second pick in April, so any return north would still run through the Argonauts. For now, though, the next stretch of his career belongs to Las Vegas, where he has a clear runway into the summer program and a chance to turn a brief rookie look into something more permanent.