ESPN rounded up six rookies fresh off signing their first pro contracts and asked the obvious question: what do you do with the money? Jeremiyah Love, Jadarian Price, Zachariah Branch, Jordyn Tyson, Denzel Boston and Carnell Tate all answered, and the responses ranged from buying a house to stacking S&P 500 shares to, in Love's case, not touching a dollar of it at all.
Love, the No. 3 overall pick by the Cardinals, signed a fully guaranteed four-year deal worth $53.9 million, the richest rookie running back contract in league history. His plan is to live entirely off his endorsement money from PayPal, New Balance and Celsius while the NFL check just piles up. 'I'm not going to touch the money,' he said. 'I'm probably going to put it all away.' That's a rich-kid problem most rookies don't have, and it tells you Arizona's front office wasn't the only party that believed in this pick.
Jadarian Price took his $8.7 million signing bonus from Seattle and bought his family a house back in Denison, Texas. Zachariah Branch, a third-rounder in Atlanta, went the boring-but-smart route and put his money into the stock market, chasing generational wealth over jewelry. Jordyn Tyson surprised his dad with a wire transfer and also bought himself a home, Denzel Boston used his check to bankroll training trips to Miami, and Carnell Tate split his money between a Chicago house near his hometown and a Star Wars Lego set, because apparently top-five picks still collect Legos.
The spending habits are a nice window into who these guys are, but the real fantasy signal is in the draft slots and depth charts attached to each name. Love went third overall into a crowded Cardinals backfield that also features Tyler Allgeier, who reportedly opened camp with the starters, which muddies an otherwise elite talent's early-down role. The realistic outlook still lands around 275 total touches and 50 catches, which is RB1 territory if the touches materialize, but it's not the layup his contract size suggests.
Price is the sleeper play of the group. Seattle drafted him in round one specifically to replace Kenneth Walker III, who left in free agency after finishing as last year's RB22, and with Zach Charbonnet still working back from a torn ACL, Price walks into camp with a real path to lead-back touches. Anyone building a bench in best-ball or dynasty should be circling him now before his ADP catches up to the opportunity.
The receiver trio is a mixed bag for fantasy purposes. Tate landed at No. 4 to Tennessee with a clean shot at being the Titans' No. 1 target, though he's competing with Calvin Ridley, Wan'Dale Robinson and Chimere Dike for looks in an offense still riding on Cam Ward's development, and early models have him around WR28 in dynasty rankings. Tyson went No. 8 to New Orleans, where he's the clear No. 2 behind Chris Olave, but both receivers carry injury question marks, Olave managing a blood clot issue and Tyson coming off hamstring problems at Arizona State, which keeps his current ADP in the 60-to-80 range depending on the site. Branch and Boston are Day 2 dice rolls, worth stashing in deeper leagues but not draft-day priorities.
None of this moves the needle on rookie-of-the-year markets or win totals by itself, but it's a reminder that draft capital, contract size and the actual money story all point the same direction: Love and Tate carry the name value, while Price is the one with the cleanest runway to touches. If you're stacking a rookie-heavy roster or dabbling in first-year offensive rookie of the year odds, Price's crowded-competition-free path to work should carry more weight than the size of anyone's signing bonus.
Worth checking back on all six once padded practices start. Camp reps will settle the target competitions in New Orleans and Tennessee, and Arizona's backfield split between Love and Allgeier is the single biggest variable for anyone who spent a premium pick on the presumptive Cardinals RB1.