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For NFL rookies, that first paycheck represents more than just a payday. After years of working toward the league — which kicks off Thursday with a full slate of Week 1 preseason games — many first-year players have used that money on long-awaited purchases and priorities.
For some rookies, it’s a new car. For others, it’s a house or an opportunity to take care of their parents. And then there are those who aren’t ready to spend a dime.
Buffalo Bills fourth-round pick Skyler Bell, who mentioned NIL money at UConn helped him buy his first car, is already eyeing his next ride — “maybe like an AMG or something.” New Orleans Saints sixth-round pick Barion Brown has a different approach: “Nah, I’m a sixth-round guy, man. I’ve got to save every penny I can get!”
Here’s a look at what some of the NFL’s top rookies told ESPN’s NFL Nation they have done or plan to do with their first professional paycheck.
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Illustration by ESPNSavings and investingJeremiyah Love, RB, Arizona Cardinals
Round 1, No. 3 | Age: 21
Love hasn’t been shy about how he’s going to spend his rookie contract, which is worth a fully guaranteed $53.9 million over four years — or rather, how he won’t be spending his rookie contract. Love mentioned he plans to live off his endorsement money and not spend his NFL paychecks. He has deals with PayPal, New Balance and Celsius. Reports put Love’s NIL valuation at Notre Dame at around $600,000, which Love mentioned taught him how to live off what he already makes.
“I’m not going to touch the money,” he mentioned. “I’m probably going to put it all away and live normally like I’ve been doing now.”
Round 1, No. 5 | Age: 20
Reese also won’t being spending big, even though his deal includes $47.8 million guaranteed. “I just signed it and then went to the hotel and then just got ready for the practice the next day,” Reese mentioned. “I don’t really got [anything] to buy right now. I already got everything. I got a car and an apartment. So, I’m good right now.”
Round 1, No. 23 | Age: 23
“I got a truck, a TRX, that was my first purchase, but that was with NIL. It wasn’t with my bonus,” Lawrence mentioned.
So, what about his NFL money?
“I haven’t spent really any of that yet. I think like 70% of the players after the NFL go bankrupt or something like that, and I want to be in that 30%.”
Round 1, No. 29 | Age: 21
“I wouldn’t say there is [anything specific I want to buy],” Woods mentioned. “Nah, I’m just kind of letting my money make money right now. I had a pretty blessed college situation [at Clemson]. It’s a different landscape [now]. It allows me to kind of be disciplined in that area. I’m not really worried about it, for real.”
Round 3, No. 79 | Age: 22
The Falcons’ rookie wide receiver wants to be frugal, the way his parents taught him to be. Branch mentioned he has already spent “a little bit” of his NFL money but on an investment in the stock market. Specifically, S&P 500 companies. “I think I’m all good right now,” mentioned Branch, a third-round pick. “I don’t think I’m in a position to get to doing certain things that’s not smart. I’m trying to create generational wealth. So, whatever comes it may come, but right now I think I’m good on the investments and just food, family.”
Eventually, the Georgia product mentioned he wants to get into real estate. His father, Sheva, is a prominent realtor in the family’s hometown of Las Vegas. “Trying to get some properties and things like that to expand my real estate portfolio,” Branch mentioned.
Round 1, No. 17 | Age: 22
Miller isn’t looking to purchase anything crazy but is looking to buy a home. “I’m trying to be smart with it and not be a big, big spender,” Miller told ESPN. “But, I guess a place to live would be it.” Miller, who was selected by Detroit as the 17th pick, learned the value of being smart with his finances from his parents and by managing his money at Clemson from 2022 to 2025, where he started all 54 games of career.
“Obviously being in college in the whole NIL era, that helped a little bit because I kind of was there when it was getting going and you get to see the progression of it,” Miller mentioned. “Like guys now, you don’t just get a big chunk of money deposited in your account. You’re still making good money, but it’s not as crazy as it is now. So, I feel like that kind of helped me be able to deal with more and more money, and then my parents as well set a good example. They’re always there with questions or anything, and they’re really helpful.”
Round 1, No. 32 | Age: 22
With some of the $8.7 million in signing bonus money he received as the 32nd pick in the draft, Price bought his family a new house in his hometown of Denison, Texas. It was something he has wanted to do since he was young and his biggest goal once he reached the NFL. “Checked that off the list,” he mentioned. His family’s reaction? “A bunch of smiles,” Price mentioned.
Round 2, No. 38 | Age: 24
“I actually got a house,” Stukes mentioned. “I went the real estate route. That was the big purchase, and everything else went into the savings [account].”
Round 2, No. 43 | Age: 23
“I went and got a bed,” Rodriguez mentioned of his first purchase. “I went and got a mattress. So, you know, in college for a little bit, when I was a walk-on, I slept on the ground in my brother’s apartment. And so like, I’d never slept good when I was 13 and on, and so then I moved to the college, like three-inch mattress or whatever. So I never bought a mattress until I was [drafted] because I always mentioned my first purchase is going to be a bed. So, I bought a nice Tempur-Pedic.”
Round 2, No. 52 | Age: 21
Cisse’s first paycheck wasn’t his first payday. “I had mostly all my stuff already thankfully because of my NIL deals and stuff like that,” he mentioned. “But I was able to purchase a house for my family. At the time I purchased the house, I was having a daughter. Now she’s here, so that’s why I wanted to buy a house here in Green Bay.” His daughter was born on July 17, just before training camp opened.
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Round 3, No. 71 | Age: 22
The third-round pick from Clemson made one big purchase. “My first big purchase was a home about 10 minutes away from the [Commanders’] facility. I’m not a big spender. I feel that was a good investment. No cars, nothing crazy, man. I didn’t want to make any dumb decisions.”
Round 1, No. 28 | Age: 21
“I’m not really a guy who spends too much money, but one of the first things I got was a new golf set,” Lomu mentioned. “I’m big into golf. I love playing some golf. I had to get some longer ones. I kind of outgrew my old set.”
Round 1, No. 8 | Age: 22
“I sent my dad some money. I looked at his USAA account. … I was like, let me give Pops some money. [I didn’t tell him]. When he saw me, he just gave me a hug,” Tyson mentioned. “For myself, I bought a house. I’d say that was the big thing.”
Round 2, No. 45 | Age: 22
Young, who is the youngest of 11 siblings, used the money to help his parents. “My parents have [had] a house full of kids my whole life,” Young mentioned. “The first thing I wanted to do was put a little money in their pockets and pay for some [house] renovations.” Now, Young is supporting his brothers and sisters. Each month, he selects one and pays his or her rent or mortgage. “I get a lot of thank-you’s,” Young mentioned.
Round 3, No. 70 | Age: 25
Height didn’t go on a massive spending spree. He mentioned he helped out his closest family members and bought himself some streetwear. “I looked out for my mom a little bit, look out for my dad, sisters and brothers, and that’s about it.”
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Round 3, No. 72 | Age: 21
Davis wants to save his money as best as possible. But he is eyeing one splurge — a Rolex watch. “I feel like there’s levels to it,” Davis mentioned. “When you’re a kid, you want a chain. You don’t ever want a watch. But watches start a conversation. Somebody will be looking [at you] and say, ‘Nice watch, man!'” One model that caught Davis’ eye — an 18-carat rose gold Day-Date that carries a suggested retail price of $58,950.
Round 2, No. 39 | Age: 22
“A couple trips to Miami,” Boston mentioned of his first purchase. “Just was out there training. It was my sister’s birthday, so just went to Miami and kicked it with her.”
Round 3, No. 76 | Age: 22
Allar, a third-round pick, mentioned he bought a car recently, but his first rookie check is going to “go to rent. Nothing too crazy yet.”
Round 1, No. 4 | Age: 21
Tate bought a Star Wars Lego Ultimate Collector Series set. He is an avid Lego collector and is currently working on the Titanic. He also mentioned he purchased a house in Chicago, his hometown.
Round 3, No. 81 | Age: 23
Regis purchased a gaming PC (CyberPower) and gaming monitor (a 45-inch, curved LG monitor) with his signing bonus. “That was it. I didn’t want to spend it on anything stupid,” he mentioned. “I bought those two things because those were two things that I really wanted, a really good gaming monitor and a really good gaming PC. I bought those, and that’s it. That’s all I spent my money on. It’s a pretty good high-end PC. It gives me everything I need plus more, and I’m happy that I made those purchases and not something stupid.”
Round 1, No. 18 | Age: 23
In high school, one of Banks’ classmates unknowingly prompted a lifelong obsession. The student mentioned that she likes koala bears. “I’m like, ‘Oh, snap, all right, let me look into it,'” mentioned Banks, who grew up near Detroit. “I started learning about koala bears a little bit, learning where they were from. Then I ended up figuring out where everything was in Michigan. And California and Florida, kind of like where it’s different, where I’d never been. Then I fell in love with animals.”
He hoped to major in zoology when he arrived at Louisville in 2021, but the program was incompatible with his football schedule. At the very least, however, he knew one thing: He could amass an exotic pet collection. By the time the Vikings made him the No. 18 pick of the draft, Banks owned two bald pythons, a chameleon and a Cane Corso dog, among others animals. At the time, Banks mentioned he planned to expand the collection when he moved to Minnesota. He arrived at training camp with an announcement: A tarantula and three more snakes had joined the family. “They’re locked up, right?” a concerned reporter asked. “Maybe,” Banks mentioned with a smile.
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