Being great in the regular season is commendable, but the NFL playoffs carry all the weight when it comes to legacy. To what extent conversation with Lamar Jackson if he was heading towards his third or fourth Super Bowl these playoffs?
Every playoff win helps build a resume. Andy Reid went from a head coach who had a reputation for never being able to win big to being mentioned as perhaps the greatest coach of all time with a few Super Bowl wins over the last six seasons. He is one of many examples of coaches and players whose legacy completely changed after a few playoff successes.
Which NFL figures have the most to gain, legacy-wise, over the next two games? Here are the top 10:
10. LB Bobby Wagner, Washington Commanders
Wagner is probably on his way to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He has 13 consecutive 100-tackle seasons, tied with London Fletcher for the NFL record. He is a nine-time Pro Bowler, six-time All-Pro and a member of the 2010 All-Decade Team.
A Super Bowl would eliminate all doubt. Wagner has one ring with the 2013 Seattle Seahawks. A second one would be different. Wagner received a lot of credit for helping change the culture of the Commanders during his first season with the team. A Super Bowl victory with Washington would help solidify Wagner’s standing among all-time linebackers.
9. Buffalo Bills S Damar Hamlin
A Super Bowl win wouldn’t vault Hamlin into the Hall of Fame conversation like some other players on this list. But it would add a chapter to his story that movies are made of.
Hamlin almost died on the field due to cardiac arrest after a blow he received during a game in January 2023. He became a household name among non-football fans. Hamlin returned to action, but many may not know that he became a full-time starter for the Bills this season and had a good season with 89 tackles and two interceptions. His inspiring comeback story will be told countless times in the two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl.
8. Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen is injured
Hurts was a hot name two seasons ago. He almost won the NFL MVP and would have won the Super Bowl MVP if the Eagles could have won a close game against the Chiefs. Since then, his stature has cooled. That would bounce back quickly with a Super Bowl. Saquon Barkley would probably get more credit, as the Eagles barely passed the ball in the playoffs, but Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks always have a bump. Hurts too.
7. Josh Harris, owner of the Washington Commanders
Truth be told, Dan Snyder’s legacy is one that will (somehow) be even worse if the Commanders win a championship so soon after they were finally able to get rid of him. Snyder should already be considered the worst team owner in NFL history, so how much further can he sink?
For Harris, he would be seen as a hero by a fan base that had begun to turn against their favorite team as Snyder knocked them to the ground. The decision to hire Adam Peters as general manager, Dan Quinn as head coach and draft Jayden Daniels in one offseason will be remembered in Washington for a long, long time.
6. Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo
With each Chiefs Super Bowl victory, Spagnuolo gets closer to making history. No Pro Football Hall of Famer has achieved success almost entirely because of his work as a coordinator. The coordinators in the room either had stellar playing histories or head coaching accomplishments. Spagnuolo has not played in the NFL and has an 11-41 career record as a head coach.
But he’s the only coordinator to hold four Super Bowl rings and the only one to hold a ring from two different franchises (he also won one with the 2007 Giants). It would take a strong argument for Spagnuolo to succeed as a coordinator. Five rings, including two in the last two seasons when the Chiefs defense played a significant role in their success, would be a good start.
5. Dan Quinn, coach of the Washington Commanders
Quinn deserved more credit for what he did with the Atlanta Falcons. But if you remember his time as head coach of the Falcons, you probably remember the infamous 28-3 collapse against the New England Patriots.
That would change with a Super Bowl victory, especially for a franchise that won four games a season ago and has a rookie quarterback. Quinn has a ring with the 2013 Seattle Seahawks as defensive coordinator, but coordinators don’t get enough credit for the titles. An alliance with the commanders would significantly change his stature.
4 (tie). Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs
We’ll group them together because the stories are similar. Reid and Mahomes are already among the best of all time as a head coach and quarterback. Three Super Bowl titles and seven straight trips to the AFC Championship Game do that. But every Super Bowl puts them higher on the list. Mahomes needs all the rings he can get if he wants to overtake Tom Brady on the GOAT list. Another ring could get more people talking about Reid as the greatest coach in NFL history. The legacy of both men is already assured. They can still get stronger.
3. Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley
Barkley would join two rosters if the Eagles win a Super Bowl. Assuming he plays well enough for two more games, Barkley could move to the top of the list of best running back seasons of all time. He has 2,638 total yards from scrimmage, including the playoffs, and 17 touchdowns. He reached the magic mark of 2,000 rushing yards during the regular season. A Super Bowl would give Barkley a good argument against the 1963 season of Jim Brown, OJ Simpson in 1973, Eric Dickerson in 1984, Marshall Faulk in 1999, LaDainian Tomlinson in 2006, Chris Johnson in 2009 or any other great running back season of all time.
Barkley would also enter the discussion with Drew Brees, Reggie White and Peyton Manning as the biggest free agent signing in NFL history. For the sake of New York Giants fans, we’ll stop there.
2. Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen
Allen has fans who consider him the best quarterback in football. He could win his first MVP in a few weeks. But it’s hard to be at the top of the list when Patrick Mahomes has multiple Super Bowls. For many, that’s all that matters.
Allen could at least close the gap over the next few weeks. If he wins the Super Bowl, that would mean the Bills beat Mahomes’ Chiefs this weekend. That would carry some weight. Allen has been playing at an elite level for quite some time. A Super Bowl would validate everything he’s done.
It would also be historic for Buffalo, considering its playoff heartbreak over the years and lack of a Super Bowl championship. A victory would erase all the pain and make Allen a forever legend in Buffalo.
1. Washington Commanders Quarterback Jayden Daniels
There are good arguments to be made that someone like Josh Allen should be #1. The conversation about him would change a lot with just one Super Bowl ring.
But Daniels could do something no one has ever done before.
No rookie quarterback has ever started a Super Bowl, let alone won one. If Daniels takes a flawed Washington Commanders team, which finished 4-13 a season ago, and takes it to the Super Bowl, he would immediately go to the top of the line of greatest rookies of all time, if he is not there already. It’s not someone like Ben Roethlisberger who starts on a good Pittsburgh Steelers team in 2004 and doesn’t screw things up. Daniels carries this Washington team. It will be at least another year or two before we see the full commanders. And Daniels invited them to a conference championship game.
A Super Bowl as a rookie would be unprecedented and would shape the debate over Daniels’ career for many years to come. Even though rookie quarterbacks are more advanced than ever, it could be a long time before another rookie QB wins a Super Bowl. If Daniels gets the job done, he could stand alone on this list for many years.