Cardinals first-rounder Jeremiyah Love officially signs rookie deal, gets largest RB guarantee in NFL history
Kenneth Walker III, the reigning Super Bowl MVP, got less guaranteed money in free agency this offseason.
The main reason NFL rookie contracts are so appealing is they represent an opportunity to get a high performer for well below market rate. That’s not exactly what the Arizona Cardinals got with No. 3 overall draft pick Jeremiyah Love.
Love was essentially guaranteed a four-year, $53 million contract with a fifth-year option the moment the Cardinals called in his name, but he still made history with those numbers. The fully guaranteed deal represents the most guaranteed money ever paid to a running back in NFL history. The 20-year-old officially signed his deal Friday.
Officially an AZ Cardinal ✍️ pic. twitter. com/v6ZBue1o2w — Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) May 8, 2026 The previous high watermark was another rookie deal, as Saquon Barkley got $31.
8 million guaranteed when he signed with the New York Giants as the second overall pick in 2018. At $13. 3 million per year, Love will have the sixth-highest average annual value among all running backs, per OverTheCap .