Five Candidates for the Cover of Madden 26

The summer is coming very quickly, and at the end of the summer, you can always count on Madden coming out. The popular NFL video game usually releases in mid-August, and the cover athlete is always a big topic of discussion. The cover athlete will more likely be released in the next month, but before it happens, let’s discuss a few candidates who should be on the cover of Madden 26.

5. C.J. Stroud

C.J. Stroud is a long shot, but he isn’t the worst selection. Stroud is still very young, only entering his 3rd season, but so far he has been a very solid QB. In his first two seasons, he has produced a playoff win in both of them and pretty solid production in stats. Stroud is someone who will be in Madden Cover conversations for his whole career if he stays on this track, but I do think it is too soon. He will be a name to keep monitoring year by year, but it is highly unlikely he is on the cover of Madden 26.

Photo Via AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez

4. Joe Burrow

Like Stroud, Joe Burrow is someone who will potentially get on a Madden cover sooner or later. Burrow is a solid option, but with the Bengals not having much team success in the past 2 seasons, it makes his chances relatively low. Burrow is someone who, within the next 3 years, will be on the cover if the Bengals can get back to winning, but it is just unlikely that he will be on the Madden 26 cover. If the Bengals can have some team success this season and Burrow stays healthy, he will be a top candidate for Madden 27.

Photo Via Dylan Buell/Getty Images

3. Jayden Daniels

The Commanders' QB will be going into his second season this year and is a top candidate. Jayden Daniels had one of the best seasons a rookie QB has ever had, and that gets him to the top part of this list and probably the best QB option. Like Burrow, if he stays on track, he will certainly get on a cover within the next 3-4 seasons. The only reason why he isn’t higher on this list is that he is only going into his second season, and EA, along with fans, need to know if Jayden Daniels can sustain the level of play he had in his rookie season or if it was a fluke. This year will be a big year for Daniels, and we will all figure out if his rookie season was lucky or if he is a top-tier NFL quarterback.

Photo Via Geoff Burke/Imagn Images

2. Saquan Barkley and Jalen Hurts

It is hard to pick either Jalen or Saquan, so why not both of them and have a combo cover like in Madden 22 with Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes? Saquon obviously had one of the best seasons a running back could have, but he didn’t play as well as Jalen Hurts did in the Super Bowl, and Hurts was the Super Bowl MVP. With that being the case, a cover graced by Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley is a solid option—one of the best quarterback and running back duos, if not the best, in the NFL. Also, being the defending champions helps a lot. I think there is a very high chance EA picks Saquon or Hurts, if not both of them, to be the cover of Madden 26, but we’ll see in about a month.

Photo Via AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough

1. Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson

Madden 26 should be a combo cover in some way, whether it is Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley or Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson. These two guys are the two best wide receivers in football, no question. They are both on track to be Hall of Famers, and it would be tough to pick one of them to grace the cover. So why not both of them? They were college teammates at LSU and still have a very good friendship. Both of them would 100% be interested in this idea, and it would be, in my opinion, probably the best cover choice EA could pick. It is unlikely to happen, but if it did, it might be the coolest Madden cover ever, though. Hopefully, EA will keep this as a possibility, as, personally, this is what I would pick.

Photo Via Gregory Shamus/GettyImages

@ThatManChe On X

@Sidelines_SN On X

Eli Saari