With the third overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, the Arizona Cardinals selected Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love.
The last running back drafted higher than Love was Saquon Barkley by the New York Giants with the second overall pick in 2018. Here’s how Love’s rookie contract compares to Barkley’s $41.2 million payday with the Philadelphia Eagles.
How Does Jeremiyah Love’s Rookie Contract Compare to Saquon Barkley’s?
In 2025, Barkley signed with the Eagles after several seasons with the Giants, which was a three-year, $37.75 million contract. Now he’s under contract until 2028 after signing a two-year extension worth $41.2 million following the team’s Super Bowl win.
Compared to Barkley, Spotrac reports that Love is expected to sign a fully guaranteed four-year contract worth $53 million with a $35 million signing bonus. He hasn’t played a snap yet, and he’s already the seventh-highest-paid running back by average.
“As the #3 overall pick, RB Jeremiyah Love (Notre Dame) is expected to sign a fully guaranteed 4-year, $53M contract with the #Cardinals, including a $35M signing bonus. At $13.2M per year, Love stands to become the 7th highest average-paid running back in football. Love is represented by Athletes First,” Spotrac reported.
As the #3 overall pick, RB Jeremiyah Love (Notre Dame) is expected to sign a fully guaranteed 4 year, $53M contract with the #Cardinals, including a $35M signing bonus.
At $13.2M per year, Love stands to become the 7th highest average paid running back in football.
Love is…
— Spotrac (@spotrac) April 24, 2026
Looking at Love’s collegiate stats at Notre Dame, he’s worth the heavy investment for a running back at the third overall pick.
In 2025, he carried the ball 199 times for 1,372 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns. As a receiver, he caught 27 receptions for 280 yards and three touchdowns. In PFSN’s College Football Running Back Impact Metric, he ranked as the fourth-best running back with an impact score of 92.4 and a letter grade of A-.
Across his three college football seasons, he rushed for a total of 2,882 yards and 36 touchdowns in 433 attempts. As a receiver, he’s caught 63 receptions for 594 yards and six touchdowns.
Love has often been regarded as one of the best players in the draft. Over the past couple of days, his draft stock has largely fluctuated, and the rumors of him going to the Cardinals didn’t come emerge until the last few days.
Love will come into the Cardinals as their top running back option, especially with an aging James Conner. In PFSN’s NFL Running Back Impact Metric, only Michael Carter and Bam Knight qualified for the team, and they both had abysmal scores. Carter had an impact score of 53.9 (38th) and Knight a score of 39.5 (52nd). Both of them received letter grades of F.
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