It's that time of year again.
Offseason programs are underway and training camp is around the corner, which means Madden NFL will soon name its newest cover athlete.
Last summer, the video game giant bestowed Saquon Barkley with the honor, making him the second straight running back to decorate the cover after going with Christian McCaffrey the year prior.
Is a three-peat at the RB position in store, or could the cover see its first wide receiver of the 2020s? Perhaps a defender will finally earn the distinction again after an 11-year drought.
As we await EA Sports' announcement, here are my top five top contenders to grace the cover of Madden NFL 27.
Heading into his 18th NFL season, Stafford's never had a better shot at becoming a Madden cover boy. His 2025 campaign was that good. All that was missing was a trip to the Super Bowl, as he and the Rams fell just short in the NFC Championship Game. Stafford led the league with 4,707 passing yards, 46 touchdowns and a 7.7 touchdown percentage while throwing just eight interceptions on the way to winning Most Valuable Player. He's carving out a potential path to Canton late in his career, and is wholly deserving of a feature spot on Madden NFL 27. Stafford would become the first reigning MVP to get the nod since Lamar Jackson in 2020 and the fifth different QB this decade.
Madden NFL has been feting cover stars for over a quarter century and just went with running backs in back-to-back releases for the first time over the last two years. So, why would EA Sports elect to go with a ball-carrier yet again? Because Bijan is the most video game-like player in the NFL right now. He destroys opponents by air and by ground, snatches ankles with reckless abandon and can break any run wide open -- as evidenced by his 93-yard touchdown scamper in Week 17 standing as the NFL's longest run last season. An All-Pro for the first time in 2025 after leading the league with 2,298 scrimmage yards, Robinson delivers the type of play style gamers envision when they pick up the sticks.
Putting aside the aforementioned statistical unlikelihood of the Madden cover featuring a third straight running back, your name belongs in the mix if you win Super Bowl Most Valuable Player. Similar to Bijan Robinson, Walker is a persistent home run threat, adept at making the first man miss (or punishing him for trying) and eking out more yards than thought possible. The 25-year-old logged his second 1,000-yard rushing campaign in 2025, but he truly shined in the postseason. Walker scored at will against the rival 49ers in the Divisional Round, taking three trips to the end zone. Then, in the wake of backfield mate Zach Charbonnet's season-ending injury versus San Francisco, Walker scored yet again with 111 scrimmage yards in the NFC title game and rumbled to 161 total yards and the MVP hardware in Super Bowl LX. Seahawks fans might bristle seeing him don Chiefs colors on the cover, but at least they won't have a Madden curse to worry about.
Here's where any concerns over a curse would enter the equation for the 12s. Sam Darnold could certainly be in play after his Hollywood-style comeback from castoff to champion, but Smith-Njigba feels like the top Seahawks option. He broke out last season to win Offensive Player of the Year, collecting 119 receptions for an NFL-leading 1,793 yards and career-high 10 touchdowns. Smith-Njigba also added scores in the Divisional Round and NFC Championship Game. A two-time Pro Bowler known for quietly going about his business (and right now, ), JSN would become just the fifth wide receiver on the cover and the first since 2018 -- though, he'd fit more in the mold of the first two WR representatives, Larry Fitzgerald and Calvin Johnson, than the more boisterous Odell Beckham Jr. and Antonio Brown.
It's now been a dozen years since Richard Sherman went from cover man to cover star on Madden NFL 15. Sherman remains the third defender to ever be selected, joined by Ray Lewis and Troy Polamalu. Who better to end the drought than Garrett, the NFL's new single-season sack king after tallying 23 last season to surpass a record shared by Michael Strahan and ? Garrett won Defensive Player of the Year for a second time thanks to his record-breaking efforts. Nine years into his decorated career, he's a seven-time Pro Bowler, five-time first-team All-Pro and stands third among active leaders with 125.5 sacks. More feared pass rushers -- past or present -- are few and far between. Let Garrett join Cleveland folk hero Peyton Hillis by becoming the second Browns player to nab the cover.
