As Jeremiyah Love took pen in hand Friday morning to sign his first NFL contract, he told Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill it was "surreal."
A few hours later, after the team's first-round pick was done with his first pro on-field work during rookie minicamp, Love made it clear he was thinking about what signing that paper meant more than the dollar figures attached.
"That amount of money would change anybody's life," the running back said of the $53 million deal, all of which is guaranteed. "For me, it doesn't change my mindset. I'm only getting that much because I was the third pick in the draft. I still haven't done anything. I'm ready to earn what I have been given."
In fact, Love said, he doesn't plan on using any of the money if he can help it.
"I don't even have to touch my NFL money," Love said. "I live in the era of NIL so I am pretty well off already. I don't need to touch that money right now. … I'm going to put that money away for my kids, my grandkids, so they can have a better life."
These are the types of things the Cardinals want to hear.
It's impossible for Love to earn much this weekend. There are only 16 rookies out on the field and no tryout players. Rookie minicamp used to be a 50-60 player affair, with tryout players everywhere and 11-on-11 work.
Post-Covid, that has changed for the Cardinals, with LaFleur following the same path as previous coach Jonathan Gannon. The two days on the field is about acclimating to new surroundings, so that when rookies join the veterans on Monday for Phase 2 work, they know what is going on.
LaFleur called what Love and his fellow first-year players did on Friday "an extension of the meeting room." The learning curve in theory won't be steep for Love, who praised the teaching of his coaches at Notre Dame and said football knowledge is mostly "universal."
It doesn't hurt he plays running back, a position that can be argued is the easiest to digest in the transition to the NFL.
"It's semi-fair to say, in terms of a halfback compared to someone who has to move around from a formation standpoint, a la the receivers," LaFleur said. "But there is still a lot to learn. From a protection standpoint, physically he's a good protector and now we have to teach him the scheme of it.
"He's a smart dude. We're not worried about him picking that stuff up."
Said Love, "The switch to the NFL has been pretty seamless for me."
On Friday, the players were so scarce that some of Love's main "work" was simply taking a few handoffs from third-round quarterback Carson Beck, in front of offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett and no other players.
Love said he was looking forward to Monday, when the vets come in and he begins to forge relationships (although he has already connected with tackle Paris Johnson Jr., saying "that's my guy.") He called it a "relief" to get back into some workouts after the chaos of the draft and everything before it, going back to train at Notre Dame for 10 days and taking in the spring game (and meeting Devin Fitzgerald, Larry's son and new Irish wide receiver.)
"I just wanted to get into my routine and play ball," Love said. "I just want to work."
For which he'll be paid handsomely.
Love's contract, slotted as the No. 3 overall selection (it would've been the same had the Cardinals taken an edge rusher or an offensive lineman there), is a fully guaranteed $53 million for four years, with a fifth-year team option. His signing bonus is $35M, and his $13.3M average per year makes him the seventh highest-paid running back in the league. Love isn't gonna touch it.
"That's the plan," Love said, before noting, "plans change sometimes" to a chorus of laughs from the media.
"But that's the plan."
