Philadelphia Eagles star running back Saquon Barkley was announced Monday as EA Sports’ cover athlete for Madden NFL 26. EA is using the image of Barkley’s hurdle over a descending during week 9 of the NFL regular season for the Madden 26 cover. The Eagles would go on to win the 2025 NFL Super Bowl in convincing fashion.
How Did Saquon Barkley Perform in the 2024 NFL Regular Season?
Saquon had one of the best offensive seasons in the NFL ever last year. He set the NFL single-season rushing record. Terrell Davis had the previous record at 2,476 yards. He wrapped up his first year for the Philadelphia Eagles with 2,505 yards rushing and 18 rushing touchdowns. You can check out the 2025 Eagles schedule here, and the 2025-26 NFL Playoff schedule here as Philly looks to try and repeat this season.
Madden 26 Cover
Here’s the Madden 26 cover for you to check out. EA released it on their X post here.

Madden Covers by Year
If you want to see the full list of the Madden covers by year, here you go. Of course, Coach Madden was the first one in 2000!
Year | Cover |
2000 | John Madden |
2001 | Eddie George |
2002 | Daunte Culpepper |
2003 | Marshall Faulk |
2004 | Michael Vick |
2005 | Ray Lewis |
2006 | Donovan McNabb |
2007 | Shaun Alexander |
2008 | Vince Young |
2009 | Brett Favre |
2010 | Troy Polamalu and Larry Fitzgerald |
2011 | Drew Brees |
2012 | Peyton Hillis |
2013 | Calvin Johnson |
2014 | Barry Sanders |
2014* | Adrian Peterson |
2015 | Richard Sherman |
2016 | Odell Beckham Jr. |
2017 | Rob Gronkowski |
2018 | Tom Brady |
2019 | Antonio Brown |
2020 | Patrick Mahomes |
2021 | Lamar Jackson |
2022 | Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady |
2023 | John Madden |
2024 | Josh Allen |
2025 | Christian McCaffrey |
2026 | Saquon Barkley |