Ashton Jeanty Will Be 2nd-Highest Paid NFL RB with $32M Guaranteed in Raiders Contract

Even before Ashton Jeanty plays a snap in the NFL, he is going to be the second-highest-paid running back in the league when he signs his rookie contract with the Las Vegas Raiders.

Per NFL cap expert Andrew Brandt, Jeanty's rookie deal as the No. 6 overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft will contain approximately $32 million in guaranteed money.

Philadelphia Eagles star Saquon Barkley is the only running back with more guaranteed money, making $36 million after he signed a two-year extension in March.

Even though Jeanty is almost universally regarded as one of the best players in this year's draft class, there was still some debate about whether investing a high draft pick on him was a great use of resources given the positional value of running backs.

The Raiders, in particular, aren't necessarily in the best position to fully maximize Jeanty's talent right away. Their offensive line is a work-in-progress after ranking in the bottom half of the league in run- and pass-block win rates last season.

A counterargument to that is Las Vegas still have six more rounds, including the No. 37 overall pick in Round 2, in this draft to address its offensive line. Even though it won't get a premium talent like it could have with the sixth pick, there are still quality players available to choose from.

It wasn't hard to make the connections between Jeanty and the Raiders. New head coach Pete Carroll made no secret of his desire to have a run-oriented offense during his tenure with the Seattle Seahawks.

As soon as Jeanty cited Marshawn Lynch as one of the players he models his game after, the idea of Carroll and the Raiders not taking him if he was still on the board seemed silly.

Another factor to consider, too, is sometimes drafting cool players is fun. It may not be the responsible thing to do from a roster-building standpoint, but a skill-position group with Jeanty, Brock Bowers and Geno Smith is very exciting for a franchise coming off a 4-13 record last season.

Even though the addition of Jeanty came at a high cost in terms of the positional value of his contract, no one will care if he's running for 1,400 yards and forcing defenses to think about him like they do Barkley or Christian McCaffrey when he was at his peak with the San Francisco 49ers.