After all the speculation about who would find their way to the cover of Madden 27, it was the frontrunner who got the honor, with EA Sports announcing today that Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams would be the cover athlete for this year’s edition. The news comes on the back of a breakout season for Williams in his second year, and marks the first time a Bears player has been the cover athlete of the series. Former linebacker Brian Urlacher has had the honor of appearing on the cover of NFL 2K3 in the days before EA gained total control of the NFL video game space.
The Madden cover represents the latest piece of acclaim for Williams after his breakout sophomore campaign. Taken first overall in the 2024 draft, Williams faced significant criticism in his rookie campaign, exacerbated by the outstanding year turned in by fellow rookie Jayden Daniels, who led the Washington Commanders back to the playoffs. While Williams posted some impressive numbers in his rookie season, critics noted much of his production came in garbage time after games had slipped beyond reach for the Bears, who finished the season 5-12.
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Chicago has a poor reputation in the league for developing quarterbacks, having never produced a truly elite passer in the Super Bowl era, and many were already willing to write Williams off as the next bust after just one year. With the hiring of offensive whiz Ben Johnson as head coach ahead of 2025, however, others were optimistic it could prove a game-changer and that working with Johnson would allow Williams to show the hype was justified.
The 2025 season appears to have done just that. Williams saw improvements to yards, touchdowns, yards per attempt, QB Rating, Passer Rating, and Approximate Value in 2025. Most importantly, he led the Bears to the playoffs, culminating in a legacy-building comeback win over the rival Green Bay Packers in the opening round. Playing at home in the snow, Williams engineered a pair of scores in the final two minutes to send the game to overtime, where he connected with DJ Moore for the winning score.
Madden 27 will be available for early access on August 6, with general availability beginning on August 13.
Published: Jun 3, 2026 01:00 pm