Exotic pets, family houses and Legos: Here's what NFL rookies have spent their first paychecks on
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- Jeremiyah Love (Cardinals, No. 3 pick) plans to not touch his fully guaranteed $53.9 million rookie contract, saying he will live off endorsement deals with PayPal, New Balance, and Celsius instead.
- Malachi Lawrence (Cowboys, Round 1, No. 23) hasn't spent his NFL bonus yet, citing the statistic that '70% of the players after the NFL go bankrupt' as motivation to stay in the other 30%.
- Zachariah Branch (Falcons, Round 3, No. 79) invested his NFL earnings in S&P 500 stocks to build 'generational wealth,' with plans to expand into a Las Vegas-area real estate portfolio.
- Jadarian Price (Seahawks, No. 32) used part of his $8.7 million signing bonus to buy his family a new house in his hometown of Denison, Texas, calling it 'the biggest goal' he had set.
- Jacob Rodriguez (Dolphins, Round 2, No. 43) bought a Tempur-Pedic mattress as his first NFL purchase — he had slept on the ground in his brother's apartment as a walk-on and on a three-inch mattress in college.
- Carnell Tate (Titans, No. 4) spent part of his signing bonus on a Star Wars Lego Ultimate Collector Series set and a house in his hometown of Chicago.
- Zion Young (Ravens, Round 2, No. 45), the youngest of 11 siblings, uses his earnings to pay one brother or sister's rent or mortgage each month after funding home renovations for his parents.
Why it matters: The rookie responses reveal a NIL-era financial literacy shift — many rookies enter the league already managing endorsement money and arrive citing bankruptcy statistics, S&P 500 investing, and 'generational wealth' rather than flashy splurges. The article cuts off mid-sentence on the exotic-pets section, so the full headline angle (which explicitly teases unusual purchases) is only partially delivered in the text shown.
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