Jeremiyah Love Addresses The Cardinals' Elephant in the Room

TEMPE — Pen met paper today at the Arizona Cardinals' practice facility to make Jeremiyah Love one of the highest-paid running backs in the NFL.

Love was just drafted two weeks ago and hasn't officially recorded an NFL snap.

Thanks to the league's rookie scale contracts for draft picks, Love's first deal in the league was already established at a $53.9 million price tag across four seasons with a fifth-year option, every penny fully guaranteed.

That would have been the cost for any player the Cardinals chose at three, though the gymnastics at the position shine a bit differently for Love being a running back compared to, say, an edge rusher or offensive tackle receiving the same contract.

Love ranks first in the NFL for total contract value and fully guaranteed money at his position while being seventh in annual average.

The Cardinals will need him to play like a superhero to ensure the third overall pick didn't go to waste, which was fitting since Love is 2/2 in inserting Spider-Man quotes during his press conferences.

"Spider-Man said it: With great power comes great responsibility. In this instance, with a lot of money comes a lot of trust, a lot of responsibility. So with them putting that much trust in me, I think I have a duty to give them return on their investment, because at the end of the day it's an investment," Love told reporters at the start of rookie mini-camp.

"They're investing in me as a player, and they picked a running back as the third pick in NFL draft, which hasn't happened for a long time. So with great power comes great responsibility. I'm gonna make sure that I do right by them and right by myself, because at the end of the day, I want to do the best that I can. I hold myself to a certain standard. So I'm coming into this league ready to compete, ready to dominate and shoot, do what I got to do to make this organization look good and make myself look good. So I take their trust in me very seriously, and I'm gonna make sure I give them return on their investment."

Love was the highest running back drafted since 2018, and as the position continues to see debates on the value runners bring out of the backfield as the game evolves, the Cardinals' selection of Love is a clear vote of confidence that Love can be a star.

Sometimes stars can derail their careers with careless financial decisions, though it doesn't appear like that's the case with Love — who says he doesn't even plan on touching the numerous commas that will soon arrive to his bank account.

"It's very life-changing. I mean, that amount of money would change anybody's life. For me personally, it doesn't change my mindset. Obviously I'm only getting that much because I was drafted, I was the third pick in the draft. Every high pick is going to get a lot of money. I still haven't done anything at the end of the day," said Love.

"Coming into a mindset of I'm ready to work, I'm ready to earn the things I've been given. But it's very life-changing. My family is going to benefit a lot from it. I'm going to benefit a lot from it but honestly I'm not really too worried about it, I'm not going to touch the money. I'm going to put it all away and live normally like I've been doing now. So, very life-changing for my family, I'm going to help them out and take care of them. But as far as me, I'm not worried about it. I'm ready to play football. I get paid a lot to do it but at the end of the day I still got to perform on the field so the money, it's there. Which is a blessing. A lot of money.

"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. I don't even have to touch my NFL money. I lived in era of NIL so I've been pretty well off already. So I really don't need to touch that money as of right now, which most definitely I will not. But I will still spend money, probably with my marketing money and stuff like that, but I'm gonna make sure I put that money away for my grandkids, my kids and stuff like that, so they can have a better life financially than I did growing up.

"So that's the plan. Plans change sometimes. Plans can change sometimes, but that's the plan — not to spend that money. Put it away. If it needs to be used, use as little amount as you can, but really just live on my marketing money, because I make a lot of marketing money."

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