The main reason NFL rookie contracts are so appealing is they represent an opportunity to get a high performer for well below market rate. That’s not exactly what the Arizona Cardinals got with No. 3 overall draft pick Jeremiyah Love.
Love was essentially guaranteed a four-year, $53 million contract with a fifth-year option the moment the Cardinals called in his name, but he still made history with those numbers. The fully guaranteed deal represents the most guaranteed money ever paid to a running back in NFL history.
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The 20-year-old officially signed his deal Friday.
The previous high watermark was Saquon Barkley’s $36 million guaranteed from the Philadelphia Eagles in 2025. Beyond that, the previous highs were either rookie deals, including Ashton Jeanty’s $35.9 million guaranteed after last year’s draft and Barkley’s $31.8 million in 2018.
At $13.3 million per year, Love will have the sixth-highest average annual value among all running backs, per OverTheCap.
We could put this another way: Here are three contracts running backs signed this offseason:
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Arizona Cardinals rookie Jeremiyah Love: four years, $53 million, $53 million guaranteed
The first two men have a combined 6,953 career rushing yards and 58 touchdowns from scrimmage over the past four seasons, with Walker winning Super Bowl MVP with the Seattle Seahawks earlier this year. Love has yet to participate in his first pro training camp.
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None of this is meant to put Love down as a player. He was a monster at Notre Dame and figures to be the focal point of the Cardinals’ offense next season. It’s just worth noting the Cardinals basically used the third overall pick of the draft to bring in a running back on a contract that already pays him like one of the top runners in the league. Running backs historically struggle to see real money after their rookie deals, so it’s good Love is getting legitimately paid now.
He also apparently has a specific plan for that money, via Theo Mackie of the Arizona Republic:
“I’m not gonna touch the money,” Love said, speaking after the Cardinals’ first practice of rookie minicamp. “I’m probably just gonna put it all away and live normally like I’ve been doing now.”
Naturally, that earned a line of questioning from incredulous reporters. Really? You’re not going to buy anything?
“Nah,” Love said. “No. Honestly, my dad and my mom have set up a great team around me that have made sure that once I get paid, my financials are taken care of.”
Love won the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s best running back in 2025, after posing 1,372 rushing yards, 280 receiving yards and 21 total touchdowns for the Fighting Irish.