Jeremiyah Love explains why he won’t spend record-setting NFL contract

Jeremiyah Love just signed the richest guaranteed rookie contract ever for an NFL running back. According to the former Notre Dame star, he has no plans to spend it anytime soon.

After officially signing his four-year, fully guaranteed $53.02 million rookie contract with the Arizona Cardinals, Love was asked what he planned to do with the money. His answer perfectly captured just how dramatically the NIL era has changed the financial landscape for elite college athletes.

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“I live in the era of NIL, so I’m pretty well off already,” Love said, via Griffin S. DeMarrais of Arizona’s Family KTVK 3TV. “I really don’t need to touch that money, as of right now. I most definitely will not.”

Instead, Love said his focus is on building generational wealth: “I’m going to make sure I put that money away for my kids, grandkids, stuff like that, so they can have a better life, financially, than I did growing up,” Love added. “That’s the plan. Plans can change, sometimes, but that’s the plan.”

That mindset is remarkable considering the size of the contract. According to Spotrac, Love’s rookie deal carries an average annual value of more than $12.6 million and includes a signing bonus north of $33 million. The deal also makes him the first running back selected inside the top five of the NFL Draft since Saquon Barkley went No. 2 overall in 2018.

After what Love accomplished at Notre Dame, it’s easy to understand why Arizona was willing to invest heavily in him. Love steadily developed into one of the most explosive offensive players in college football during his three seasons in South Bend. After playing a rotational role as a freshman in 2023, he erupted onto the national scene the following year with 1,125 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns.

Then came a dominant 2025 campaign. Love rushed for 1,372 yards and 18 touchdowns while adding another 280 receiving yards and three scores through the air. He earned First-Team All-American honors, captured the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s top running back and finished as a finalist for the Heisman Trophy.

NFL evaluators consistently raved about his combination of burst, vision and big-play speed throughout the draft process. NFL.com analyst Lance Zierlein described Love as a “three-phase running back capable of stressing defenses with big-play speed” while praising his explosiveness and ability to create chunk plays.

Now, Love enters the NFL not only as one of the league’s most promising young stars, but also as one of the clearest examples yet of how NIL has fundamentally reshaped the modern athlete.

A few years ago, a rookie contract like this could instantly change a player’s life. For Love, it’s already part of a much bigger financial picture, one that he has a long-term vision for.