The Blue-Gold Game coming right during the NFL Draft was yet another example of how the college football calendar continues to frustrate with its key moments squished together. With the spring game in the rearview mirror, here’s a review of the the NFL selection process from a week and a half ago.
Notre Dame Draft Picks
RB Jeremiyah Love
1st Round, 3rd Pick
3rd Overall
Arizona Cardinals
Love was on one of the largest NIL deals in the country at Notre Dame with endorsement deals from New Balance, Celsius, and PayPal. Had he stayed in college there would’ve been an even larger pay day. None of that would’ve compared to going an incredible third overall in the NFL Draft. At this slot, Love is projected to sign a $53 million contract over 4 years with a $35 million signing bonus.
Big, big bucks. In terms of cap hit, Love’s deal will make him the 9th costliest running back in the league just below Saquon Barkley.
He should get plenty of touches in an Arizona offense that was in the bottom half of the league in yards per game and will have a Jacoby Brissette and Gardner Minshew quarterback battle to sort through. Also, draft capital was spent on Miami Hurricanes signal caller Carson Beck at 65th overall as another option.
RB Jadarian Price
1st Round, 32nd Pick
32nd Overall
Seattle Seahawks
Price going in the first round is a great story and to the Super Bowl champs even! He’s expected to sign a rookie deal worth nearly $17 million that will come with a signing bonus of just over $8.6 million.
I like the look of Price in no. 8 as a rookie.
As you’d expect after taking a running back this early in the draft, opportunity will be available. The Seahawks let Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III walk upon the completion of his rookie deal and he signed a massive 3-year contract with Kansas City for $43 million. Seattle also has backup Zach Charbonnet coming back on the final year of his rookie deal, so there’s plenty of financial flexibility.
We’d expect Price to be an instant impact player in the return game and battling for 150+ carries on the season.
WR Malachi Fields
3rd Round, 10th Pick
74th Overall
New York Giants
Five receivers ended up being picked in the 1st round and Fields was the 10th wideout off the board heading to New York where he’ll team up with fellow Irish one-year transfer Beaux Collins. At this slot, Fields is expected to sign a rookie deal worth $7.2 million with a $1.7 million signing bonus.
The Giants had star receiver Malik Nabers tear his ACL last year and 2025 leader in yardage Wan’Dale Robinson left in free agency to Tennessee on an incredible $70 million deal. If Nabers comes back healthy he’s a nice 1-2 combo with Darius Slayton, although both are entering the final year of their current deals. Fields steps in as a potential 3rd or 4th receiver and gives New York some much needed cap flexibility for the future.
TE Eli Raridon
3rd Round, 31st Pick
95th Overall
New England Patriots
There was a big run on tight ends after the 1st round this year with 7 total coming off the board from pick 54 through the 87th overall selection. Just 8 selections later, Raridon was selected by the Patriots late in the 3rd round.
Groomed for the starting job?
Hunter Henry is back after totaling 768 yards and leading the team with 7 touchdowns, although he’ll turn 32 this year and is out of contract following 2026. New England also didn’t re-sign backup Austin Hooper who left on a 1-year deal to Atlanta.
Raridon should sign a deal worth $6.7 million with a $1.37 million signing bonus. Will he be the future in New England? The Patriots have a pair of undrafted tight ends as depth pieces so Raridon could find himself easily with a path to decent playing time in 2026.
OL Billy Schrauth
5th Round, 20th Pick
160th Overall
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Once you start getting into the later rounds it’s not a guarantee at all that draft picks will be making an active roster as a rookie. That probably won’t be the case for Schrauth who is expected to sign a $4.7 million deal with a signing bonus worth just a little over $1 million.
Veterans Cody Mauch and Ben Bredeson return at the guard positions with a combined cap hit of over $13 million. Mauch’s deal is up after 2026 while Bredeson is signed through 2027. The Bucs brought in near 32-year old Dan Feeney on a 1-year deal this off-season, it’s quite possible Schrauth becomes a valued backup right away this upcoming fall.
DT Gabriel Rubio
6th Round, 29th Pick
210th Overall
Pittsburgh Steelers
I legitimately didn’t even know Rubio was seriously pursuing a career in the NFL and he gets picked well before the end of the Draft, as well. This is one of the more surprising picks in recent Notre Dame history, but good for Rubio! A rookie deal in this slot would be worth $4.5 million with a signing bonus of a quarter million dollars.
The Steelers only took 3 defenders overall in the Draft and Rubio was their only defensive lineman selection, as well. Future Hall of Famer Cameron Heyward signed an extension through 2027 and they also signed veteran Sebastian Joseph on a modest $11 million deal for 2 years in free agency.
This is probably a tough roster to make for Rubio, the franchise also took Derrick Harmon in the first round last year and have a decent amount of bodies and money tied up on the interior of their line.
Free Agents
Aamil Wagner not getting drafted isn’t a shock but it is a surprise. He didn’t have a great lead up in workouts to the NFL Draft, and of course a lack of size was always going to be an issue to overcome.
OL Aamil Wagner (Tennessee Titans)
WR Will Pauling (San Francisco 49ers)
DE Jordan Botelho (Minnesota Vikings)
CB DeVonta Smith (Carolina Panthers)
S Jalen Stroman (San Francisco 49ers)
Combine invite to undrafted.
The narrative around Wagner’s future always seemed a bit odd to me. Did Notre Dame feel like they could upgrade at right tackle and didn’t want to pay Wagner for a 5th year? Why didn’t he leave for another program? Was he ready to try his hand in the pros anyway? It’s looking like Wagner could slot in as a 3rd team tackle for the Titans. Last year, they carried 5 tackles on the 53-man roster so it could be close between making league minimum or practice roster money for Wagner.
Notes
Funnily enough, while some expected Aamil Wagner to transfer in college for 2026, it was former Irish lineman Pat Coogan who actually took that career route, won a National Championship with Indiana, and gets drafted by the same team where Wagner signed an undrafted contract. Coogan came off the board to the Titans with the 194th overall pick and is projected to be the backup center for Tennessee this year.
The cringiest draft night award goes to Clemson defensive tackle Peter Woods who was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs with the 29th overall pick. His family dressed in all white, with his mother wearing a literal wedding gown. You simply cannot look away. The draft party was also held at a local Georgia Maserati dealer, as one does for parties, while Woods celebrated by gifting his mother and sister their own brand new SUV’s. Let’s hope it’s a lease situation. Woods might be able to stomach $200,000 now but $1,000 in monthly insurance and the guaranteed mechanical issues are going to be infuriating.
The wedding dress!
Diego Pavia became the first Heisman finalist since 2013 (quarterback Jordan Lynch, Northern Illinois) not to get drafted. He was invited to the Ravens mini-camp and fair play to him parlayed that into a 3-year deal with Baltimore. The top of the Ravens’ depth chart at quarterback is secure with former MVP Lamar Jackson and veteran backup Tyler Huntley. A roster spot as the 3rd quarterback could be a fight between Pavia and UConn’s Joe Fagnano who was also signed to a 3-year deal as a free agent following the draft. Neither rookie is young, it should be noted. Fagnano turned 25 back in March while Pavia turned 24 in February.
While Notre Dame had a decent amount of NFL picks (6) this year, it’s Ohio State who continues to creep closer to Notre Dame’s all-time record. Sitting in 2nd place, USC only had 3 picks for 2026 including wide receiver Makai Lemon (20th overall, Eagles), wide receiver Ja’Kobi Lane (80th overall, Ravens), and defensive back Kamari Ramsey (141st overall, Texans).
Indiana continues to amaze.
PFF released their early 2027 NFL Draft top 75 Big Board with a top 3 of WR Jeremiah Smith (Ohio State), quarterback Julian Sayin (Ohio State), and quarterback Dante Moore (Oregon). They have Irish cornerback Leonard Moore 5th overall with KVA (22nd), CJ Carr (38th), Anthonie Knapp (67th), Adon Shuler (68th), and Christian Gray (71st) also included on their list.
