Former Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back and now Arizona Cardinals running back Jeremiyah Love hasn’t taken a snap in the NFL yet and he already holds a league record.
Love was taken with the No. 3 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft by the Cardinals, fulfilling the expectation that he would be a top-five pick on Thursday night.
And, in the process, Love now holds the NFL record for the most guaranteed money for a running back before he even takes the field.
According to Over The Cap, Love will make about $53.87 million on his fully guaranteed rookie contract, which is the most in NFL history for the running back position.
The previous record-holder was Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, whose two-year, $41.2 million contract had a total of $36 million guaranteed.
To give you an idea of just how much rookie contract values have ballooned in recent years, Barkley was the No. 2 pick in 2018 and received $31.1 million guaranteed.
In this day and age, running backs have been devalued, so you’ll hear no shortage of NFL fans and analysts knocking the pick simply because of the money.
It also won’t help that the Cardinals had much bigger fish to fry all over the roster.
That said, if there’s any running back we’d bet on being worth the kind of money Love will be getting upon entering the NFL, it’s the Notre Dame product.
Love entered the 2026 NFL Draft widely viewed as one of the best, if not the best prospects in the entire class.
His blend of size, speed and power are three traits most running backs don’t have all in one package.
Love can run through defenders just as easily as he can run around them en route to breaking off game-changing runs.
Making him more special, Love is as good of a pass-catcher as he is a runner and even lined up as a wide receiver at times for the Fighting Irish.
“He is a unicorn,” Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said. “He is as talented and gifted an athlete as I’ve ever been around, and I think he could be an elite wide receiver, he could be an elite DB. He’s just gifted with a unique skill set, the balance, the ability to jump over you, the ability to run through you.”
Living up to the kind of hype Love is carrying with him to the NFL won’t be easy.
That said, Love has the right skill set and personality to be the next great running back NFL fans talk about for years to come.