Things just seem to keep coming up spades for Philadelphia Eagles fans, as after watching their team win Super Bowl 59 in a blowout against the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs, their star running back will now don the cover of the next installment of Madden. Barkley being the cover athlete will make it the second straight year that EA Sports chose a running back for the role, as last year it was San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey. EA Sports in their first promotional tweet about the decision said:
Though it now may be becoming a trend, running backs being on the cover is a relatively rare occurrence for Madden, with only 7 being featured in 36 games. The other 6 being the aforementioned Christian McCaffrey in Madden 25, along with Barry Sanders in Madden 25(2014), Peyton Hillis in Madden 12, Shaun Alexander in Madden 07, Marshall Faulk in Madden 2003, and Eddie George in Madden 2001. Based on overall trends, EA Sports typical choice is a quarterback. With the incredible season Barkley had, it is no surprise that he is among this rare group of running backs.
Barkley rushed for over 2,000 yards, which had not been done since Derrick Henry did it in the 2020 season. Also, as referenced in the statement by EA Sports, Saquon can be seen doing a hurdle over a turned defender, something that he famously pulled off last season against the Jacksonville Jaguars. It will be interesting to see if this will be added as a new animation within the game itself. Regarding fan approval of the decision to name Barkley the cover athlete, as is typical for cover athlete reveals some seem to be happy with the choice, while others say they would have preferred someone else.