Top 2026 candidates for ‘Madden NFL’ cover: Bengals’ Ja’Marr Chase, Packers’ Jordan Love among possibilities

Saquon Barkley’s tour of excellence continued this week, with the Philadelphia Eagles star announced as the latest NFL icon to grace the cover of the “Madden” franchise. The honor caps a monumental offseason for the former New York Giants standout, who parlayed a historic 2,000-yard rushing debut with the Eagles into both a Super Bowl title and record running back contract.

It remains to be seen whether Barkley’s star power will enable him to best the infamous “Madden” curse, which may or may not have played a role in Christian McCaffrey’s injury-related falloff in 2024; the San Francisco 49ers weapon also won NFL Offensive Player of the Year and cashed in with a new deal before landing on the cover of the storied video game.

The Eagles’ top playmaker is embracing the “Madden” honor, however, which simply reaffirms the degree to which his move to Philadelphia in 2024 helped rejuvenate his career. Now which of Barkley’s NFL counterparts could be next in line?

Here are some of our way-too-early candidates to become the next face of “Madden” come 2026:

The Pittsburgh Steelers‘ top pass rusher has been on the NFL scene for a hot minute now, but when he’s healthy, he’s still one of the league’s most imposing players. The Watt brothers have also been synonymous with the league since, well, brother JJ first starred for the Houston Texans years ago. If the younger Watt resolves his contract status in Steel City and the Steelers finally make some noise in the postseason, “Madden” could have its first defensive cover man since Richard Sherman in 2014.

Just like T.J. Watt, Parsons is one of the NFL’s premier pass rushers when upright. The difference is he might also still be an ascending talent at 26, fresh off his fourth straight double-digit sack campaign in Dallas. The Cowboys probably need to take a step forward as a team for Parsons to truly warrant “Madden” cover consideration, but there aren’t many players who better represent the NFL in terms of headline-generating personality. Not since 1995 has a Cowboy appeared on the cover!

Surprisingly, Aaron Rodgers never cracked the “Madden” cover, but another great Green Bay Packers signal-caller did in Brett Favre (2009). That’s fitting, because Love has more of a Favre-esque approach with his gunslinging, and he could be primed to take over the NFC North with the reigning champion Detroit Lions enduring big staff turnover this year. Only three NFL players have ever repeated as “Madden” cover men, so that gives the ultra-gifted Love better odds of gracing the game’s cover than, say, past honorees like Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson.

We’re due for a wide receiver on the cover of “Madden,” as the position hasn’t been represented since Antonio Brown in 2019. Is there a better candidate to change that than Jefferson, who’s basically been a face of the league since arriving as a rookie playmaker in 2020? “Jets” is a willing ambassador for the NFL, recently serving as a public endorser of flag football in the Olympics, and more than that, the Minnesota Vikings star is maybe the most effortless big-play machine in the sport.

If there’s one man who can outrace Justin Jefferson to a “Madden” cover, it’s probably his former LSU teammate. Chase could’ve warranted cover recognition this year after eclipsing 1,700 receiving yards for an otherwise mercurial Cincinnati Bengals team in 2024, but the fact is he’s been dynamite whenever he’s taken the field at the NFL level. And as long as Joe Burrow is healthy and hurling the rock in Cincy, Chase is bound to get plenty of opportunities for big plays on big stages.