Notre Dame Football: Marcus Freeman talks like Audric Estime is gone

After the Notre Dame football team toppled the Stanford Cardinal on Saturday, it was hard not to see comments Marcus Freeman made as the end of an era.

For what it’s worth, Audric Estime has not said if he’s decided to come back for one more season of Notre Dame football or head to the NFL. It’s not clear if he hasn’t decided, or if he’s just not letting the public know yet.

His continued silence on the subject has given some Fighting Irish fans hope that he might want to come back, set some records and make himself the top running back off the draft board in the 2025 draft.

However, Estime’s head coach didn’t talk like someone who expects the running back to return for the 2024 season after Notre Dame beat Stanford on Saturday night.

"“What a tough, physical, special football player… He’s given Notre Dame everything he has the last few seasons.”"

Anytime someone talks about “giving everything he had” it would appear that things are ending. While Freeman didn’t say that outright, his comments seemed to be a kind of eulogy on Estime’s Notre Dame football career.

Notre Dame football coach talks the end of Audric Estime’s career

It’s not like the running back shouldn’t be thinking about going to the next level. The man who is affectionately known as the Baby Bus likely has some pretty big paydays coming his way.

The way the NFL payscale is set up, it’s less about hoping to go in the first round and more hoping to get through your first contract as soon as possible. Those rookie deals are going to be limited in how much money someone gets. Especially a running back.

It’s the first free agent contract that is where the real money is. The Notre Dame football star almost certainly has that as a factor in his considerations these days. Marcus Freeman likely knows that as well.