Caleb Williams Got the Madden Cover - These 3 NFL Stars Deserved It More

The Chicago Bears still haven’t had a quarterback in their history to throw for 4,000 yards in a single regular season, but that hasn’t stopped Madden NFL from selecting current Bears signal-caller Caleb Williams as their next cover athlete.

The Madden NFL cover is one of the highest praises (and curses) in all of sports, and Williams, following an exciting sophomore campaign, will grace the Madden NFL 27th edition of the game.

But did he deserve it?

While Madden is doubling down on the hype of the former No. 1 pick out of USC, there were at least three names that you could say deserved the cover over the Bears QB that fell in the NFC divisional round last postseason.

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Matthew Stafford

What about the QB, you know, that beat Williams in the playoffs and went on to win league MVP? Although Stafford, at 38 years old, might not be the sexiest pick for the Gen-Z generation or younger, he’s one of the most recognizable faces in football on a team that is expected to be one of the main characters of the upcoming season.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba

OK, so you want to go for the younger demographic. If you don’t want to go with Stafford, why not the reigning Offensive Player of the Year, who led the Seattle Seahawks to the Lombardi Trophy last season?

Smith-Njigba is one of the most exciting players on the field, a great personality, and has just locked in a long-term deal that will keep him in Seattle for a long time.

Myles Garrett

Don’t want an offensive player? Fine, then go with Garrett, who just broke the single-season sacks record with the Cleveland Browns.

And although they wouldn’t have known this beforehand, with his move to Los Angeles, Garrett is now marketable as ever, right alongside the likes of Shohei Ohtani, Luka Doncic, and LeBron James in Hollywood.

You could even do two versions: a legacy copy highlighting his Browns history and sack record with Cleveland, and a cover of him in his new flashy blue and yellow with the Rams.

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This story was originally published June 8, 2026 at 6:39 PM.