Jeremiyah Love Signs $53M Cardinals Contract After 2026 NFL Draft, 'It's Surreal'

After being drafted third overall by the Arizona Cardinals in April, Jeremiyah Love has inked his first NFL contract worth $53 million guaranteed.

"I guess you could say, Spider-Man said this, with great power comes great responsibility," Love told reporters after signing his deal. "In this instance, with a lot of money becomes 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 a return on their investment, because at the end of the day, it's an investment. They're investing in me as a player and they pick the running back as a third pick in the NFL draft, which hasn't happened for a long time.

"So, with great power comes a great responsibility. I'm going to make sure that I do right by them and do 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 going to make sure I give them return on their investment."

Love was the first running back taken inside the top three since Saquon Barkley was drafted second overall in 2018. The Cardinals' early selection of Love was well warranted.

Love Interview

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The former Notre Dame star rushed for 1,372 yards and 21 touchdowns in his final season with the Fighting Irish, earning All-American honors and the Doak Walker Award.

Coming into the draft, Love was the No. 2 overall player and the top running back on the final big board from Bleacher Report's NFL Scouting Department.

"He's just an impressive kid. Mature, has his head on his shoulders, never gets too high, never gets too low," Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort said of Love. "We had a great interaction with him at the combine. I followed up with him with a call over the weekend, and yeah, just had a great overall interaction. Like I said, you guys will get a chance to meet him. Impressive kid. Just really excited to add the person to the locker room."

There's plenty of pressure that comes with being a first-round pick, let alone the third overall pick, but Love will look to live up to the hype and help Arizona turn things around.