Jeremiyah Love hasn’t played a regular-season snap for the Arizona Cardinals, yet CBS Sports’ Garrett Podell has already put him on a list no player wants to join.
Podell named Love to his NFL All-Overpaid Team for 2026. The catch is that the running back didn’t do anything to earn the label except get drafted where he did.
CBS Sports Names Jeremiyah Love to Its All-Overpaid Team
Podell was upfront that the “overpaid” tag is a product of the system, not the player.
“The Arizona Cardinals set up 2026 third overall pick running back Jeremiyah Love to end up on a list like this simply by selecting a running back with the third overall pick,” Podell wrote. “First-round pick contracts are assigned by draft slot, which means Love is locked into $53.02 million fully guaranteed over the life of his four-year rookie deal.”
The issue, in Podell’s view, is the position and the price. He praised Love’s college production at Notre Dame, leading the nation in rushing and scrimmage touchdowns over his final two seasons, but questioned paying that kind of guaranteed money to a running back.
“He needs to be a generational running back in order to live up to his lofty draft status and the money that comes with it,” Podell wrote.
Why Jeremiyah Love’s Record Contract Dwarfs His Résumé
The numbers are staggering for a player yet to take a pro snap. Love’s $53.02 million in guarantees is the most ever handed to a running back, and it tops every established star at the position.
That includes Atlanta’s Bijan Robinson ($51.56 million), Detroit’s Jahmyr Gibbs ($51.47 million) and Indianapolis’ Jonathan Taylor ($39.02 million), all of whom reset the running back market this offseason. Love has more guaranteed money than any of them despite never playing an NFL down.
Love has been the first to acknowledge how that happened.
“I’m only getting that much because … I’m the third pick in the draft,” Love said, per NFL.com. “Every high pick is gonna get a lot of money. I still haven’t done anything at the end of the day.”
He’s leaned into the expectations, though.
“With a lot of money becomes a lot of trust, a lot of responsibility,” Love said, per Bleacher Report. “I have a duty to give them a return on their investment.”
The pick itself was heavily scrutinized.
Love was the highest selected running back since Saquon Barkley back in 2018, which delivered its own bit of criticism. But the Cardinals had plenty of other holes it needed to fill, not to mention a crowded backfield of James Conner, Tyler Allgeier and Trey Benson.
Nevertheless, Arizona considered Love the best player in the 2026 class, and he displayed that ability in his preseason debut, hurdling and spinning through the Las Vegas Raiders–even though he suffered a high ankle sprain in the process.
Love is the highest-paid guaranteed running back in league history before proving anything, and the label comes with the territory. The Cardinals didn’t just draft a running back at No. 3. They bet that he’ll be worth every guaranteed dollar. It’s up to him to prove them right.
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