Madden NFL 26 cover: Saquon Barkley joins list of NFL players on Madden video game cover
The Madden video game has been entertaining football and video game fans since the first edition of the game was released in 1988.
The latest edition, Madden NFL 26, is set to be released on Aug. 14, 2025.
The latest athlete on the cover for the game?
The Philadelphia Eagles' Saquon Barkley is set to grace the cover of the 2026 edition, EA Sports, the maker of the game, announced, joining a long line of Madden cover athletes.
The image of Barkley will be of his famous backwards hurdle from last season.
Madden started putting athletes on the cover in 2001, with Tennessee Titans running back Eddie George getting the honor on the Madden NFL 2001 cover.
This will be the second straight version of the game with a running back on the cover after the San Francisco 49ers' Christian McCaffrey was on the cover of Madden NFL 2025.
2001: Eddie George, RB, Tennessee Titans
2002: Daunte Culpepper, QB, Minnesota Vikings
2003: Marshall Faulk, RB, St. Louis Rams
2004: Michael Vick, QB, Atlanta Falcons
2005: Ray Lewis, LB, Baltimore Ravens
2006: Donovan McNabb, QB, Philadelphia Eagles
2007: Shaun Alexander, RB, Seattle Seahawks
2008: Vince Young, QB, Tennessee Titans
2009: Brett Favre, QB, Green Bay Packers
2010: Troy Polamalu, S, Pittsburgh Steelers and Larry Fitzgerald, WR, Arizona Cardinals
2011: Drew Brees, QB, New Orleans Saints
2012: Peyton Hillis, RB, Cleveland Browns
2013: Calvin Johnson, WR, Detroit Lions
2014: Barry Sanders, RB, Detroit Lions
2014: Adrian Peterson, RB, Minnesota Vikings
2015: Richard Sherman, CB, Seattle Seahawks
2016: Odell Beckham Jr., WR, New York Giants
2017: Rob Gronkowski, TE, New England Patriots
2018: Tom Brady, QB, New England Patriots
2019: Antonio Brown, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers
2020: Patrick Mahomes, QB, Kansas City Chiefs
2021: Lamar Jackson, QB, Baltimore Ravens
2022: Patrick Mahomes, QB, Kansas City Chiefs and Tom Brady, QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
2023: John Madden, Pro Football Hall of Fame coach
2024: Josh Allen, QB, Buffalo Bills
2025: Christian McCaffrey, RB, San Francisco 49ers
2026: Saquon Barkley, RB, Philadelphia Eagles
The only Cardinals player to get on the cover while he was playing for Arizona was WR Larry Fitzgerald, who shared the cover with Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu in 2010.
Reach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Madden NFL game covers through the years: Saquon Barkley joins list
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