The Real Reason You're Seeing Jeremiyah Love to Cardinals Draft Rumors

ARIZONA — It's smoke screen season.

The Arizona Cardinals' third overall pick is being highly debated as we reach ten days and counting until the 2026 NFL Draft. Thanks to a variety of needs, numerous players appear to be options for the Cardinals when they're on the clock — even if they end up trading back.

One name that's been constantly stirring the pot in the desert is Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love, one of college football's best offensive players who projects to be a strong ball carrier at the next level with little cons on the scouting report.

Steam really picked up after his impressive combine performance, and while first-year head coach Mike LaFleur would never say no to adding more weapons to his offense, there's a reason you're hearing so much Love-to-Arizona chatter.

Cardinals Won't Actually Draft Jeremiyah Love

Before we dive deeper into why you're seeing those rumors, we need to address why Love just isn't the guy for Arizona.

The Cardinals restructured James Conner's contract to keep him around for another season rather than cutting him. Arizona then signed one of the league's top available running backs in Tyler Allgeier to a multi-year contract, all while having Trey Benson and Bam Knight in store as well.

That's a crowded running back room with two established veterans at the top of the depth chart. On top of still needing to solidify the right side of the offensive line (mainly at tackle) and combining Love's financials of being drafted third overall (he would become one of the highest paid running backs immediately before stepping foot on an NFL field), the pick doesn't make sense. Not in 2026. Not right now.

So why is there so much buzz?

It's no secret the Cardinals are looking to trade down from their third overall pick. With numerous teams interested in Love, what's the best way to get those teams to pick up the phone?

By openly leaking Love is an option for your organization. And the best part? Going against my above argument, it's not totally inconceivable Love lands with the Cardinals. Ossenfort has adamantly used the best player available approach and if that's Love, so be it.

Yet if teams don't actually believe the Cardinals will take Love, they're less willing to fork over draft picks to make a move up with Arizona — especially if an edge rusher like Arvell Reese or David Bailey is off the board when the Cardinals are officially on the clock.

Ossenfort has also adamantly searched for trade avenues on all three days of the draft, and both up and down the board. This is again the case, and in a draft that isn't exactly top heavy with blue chip talent, some extra convincing might need to be done.

Would Love be the worst pick in the world? Not quite, and that's coming from somebody who has been on record to say the Cardinals should't draft him.

But with information sealed shut by the Cardinals through the last few years where even top national insiders don't have a true pulse on the team, why have multiple people "heard" Love is a possibility? Why would only this information get out and not any other major news through the last three years?

Allow me to adjust my tinfoil hat before telling you, it's intentional. The Cardinals know exactly what they're doing with these leaks.

That's exactly why you're seeing these rumors — not for Arizona's interest in the player himself, but more so their intentions on getting another team to bite for a trade.