Pre-draft Ivory became eligible for the 2010 NFL Draft after his season, but he did not receive an invitation to perform at the
NFL Combine. On March 16, 2010, Ivory attended Toledo's Pro Day and completed all of the combine and positional drills. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Ivory was projected to go undrafted by NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked as the 32nd best running back prospect in the draft by DraftScout.com.
New Orleans Saints On April 27, 2010, the
New Orleans Saints signed Ivory as an undrafted free agent to a three-year, $1.22 million contract. He had an impressive performance in training camp and preseason games, highlighted by a strong performance against the
San Diego Chargers that included a 76-yard touchdown on a swing pass. Early season injuries to
Reggie Bush and
Pierre Thomas left Ivory as the Saints' starting running back. He had a breakout game in Week 6 against
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: his 158 yards on 15 carries were the most by any Saints running back since
Deuce McAllister rushed for 165 yards in a 2003 game, and the most by a Saints rookie since a 179-yard effort by
Ricky Williams in 1999. The performance earned him awards as both
Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week and
FedEx Ground Player of the Week. Another strong performance in Week 11, with 23 rushes for 99 yards in a 34–19 win over against the
Seattle Seahawks, led Seahawks coach
Pete Carroll to call Ivory "a freaking stud out there." Ivory ended the regular season with 137 rushes for 716 yards, which led the team, and five touchdowns, but he also suffered repeated injuries during the year; after a foot injury in the Saints' last regular season game, he was placed on the
injured reserve list and was unable to play in the
postseason. He was named to the NFL All-Rookie Team. Ivory spent the first six games of the 2011 season on the
PUP list; after he was activated, he played in six games, with 79 rushes for 374 yards, and 22 carries for 70 yards in the Saints' two playoff games against the
Detroit Lions in the
Wild Card Round and the
San Francisco 49ers in the
Divisional Round. In May 2012, the Saints paid Ivory an additional signing bonus to make up for the income he lost on the PUP list. He became a
restricted free agent after the 2012 season. He appeared in six games in the 2012 season and recorded 40 carries for 217 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns.
New York Jets Ivory was traded to the
New York Jets on April 26, 2013, during the
2013 NFL draft for the Jets' fourth round draft pick (106th overall). He signed a three-year contract worth $10 million. He made his Jets debut in the season opener against the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers. On October 20, against the
New England Patriots, he had 34 carries for 104 yards. On October 3, he had 139 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown against the
New Orleans Saints. Overall, in the 2013 season, he had 833 rushing yards, three rushing touchdowns, and ten receiving yards. On September 7, 2014, he had a 71-yard touchdown run as part of a 102-yard performance against the
Oakland Raiders in the season opener. It was the second longest touchdown run in Jets history;
Bruce Harper ran for 78 yards in 1983. On October 16, against the
New England Patriots, he had 107 rushing yards and a touchdown. Ten days later, he had his lone two-touchdown performance of the season against the
Buffalo Bills. Overall, he finished the 2014 season with 821 rushing yards, six rushing touchdowns, and 18 receptions for 123 yards and a receiving touchdown. In the 2015 season opener against the
Cleveland Browns, Ivory had 91 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in the 31–10 victory. On October 4, 2015, during an
NFL International Series matchup against the
Miami Dolphins at
Wembley Stadium, Ivory rushed for 166 yards and a touchdown, setting a career-high in rushing yards. He followed that up with 146 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown against the
Washington Redskins. Ivory won the AFC rushing title in the 2015 season beating
Latavius Murray by four yards, finishing the year with 1,070 rushing yards and his first Pro Bowl selection. He was ranked 78th by his fellow players on the
NFL Top 100 Players of 2016.
Jacksonville Jaguars Ivory signed a three-year deal with the
Jacksonville Jaguars on March 10, 2016. On October 16, 2016, Ivory had 11 carries for 32-yards and scored his first rushing touchdown with the team as the Jaguars defeated the
Chicago Bears by a score of 17–16. On November 6, he had 107 rushing yards against the
Kansas City Chiefs. Overall, he finished the 2016 season with 439 rushing yards, three rushing touchdowns, 20 receptions, and 186 receiving yards. Ivory entered the 2017 season second on the depth chart behind rookie
Leonard Fournette. He played in 14 games with three starts, rushing for 382 yards and one touchdown. On February 23, 2018, Ivory was released by the Jaguars.
Buffalo Bills On March 6, 2018, Ivory signed a two-year contract with the
Buffalo Bills for $5.5 million, with $3.25 million guaranteed. In Week 3, against the
Minnesota Vikings, he had 126 scrimmage yards in the 27–6 victory. He rushed for 385 yards and one touchdown along with 13 receptions for 205 yards in 2018. On March 27, 2019, Ivory was released by the Bills. ==NFL career statistics==