Being great in the regular season is commendable, but the NFL playoffs carry a lot of weight when it comes to legacies. How different would the conversation surrounding Lamar Jackson be if he were heading to his third or fourth Super Bowl this postseason?
Every win in the playoffs helps build a resume. Andy Reid went from a head coach who had a reputation for never being able to win much, to arguably the greatest coach of all time with a pair of Super Bowl wins over the last six seasons. He is one of many examples of coaches and players whose legacy completely changed after some postseason success.
Which NFL figures have the most to gain in terms of their legacies over the next two games? Here are the top 10:
10. Washington Commanders LB Bobby Wagner
Wagner is likely headed to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He has 13 straight seasons with 100 tackles, tied with London Fletcher for the NFL record. He is a nine-time Pro Bowler, six-time All-Pro and a decades-long 2010 team member.
A Super Bowl would remove any shred of doubt. Wagner has one ring with the Seattle Seahawks from 2013. A second would be different. Wagner has received plenty of credit for helping change the Commanders’ culture in his first season with the team. A Super Bowl win with Washington would help cement Wagner’s ranking among all-time linebackers.
9. Buffalo Bills S. Damar Hamlin
A Super Bowl win wouldn’t push Hamlin higher into the Hall of Fame conversation like some of the other players on this list. But it would add a chapter to his story that movies are made of.
Hamlin nearly died on the field due to cardiac arrest after a hit he took during a game in January 2023. He became a household name for non-football fans. Hamlin returned to play, 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 would be told countless times in the two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl.
8. Philadelphia Eagles QB Jalen is hurting
Hurts was a popular name two seasons ago. He almost won NFL MVP and would have won Super Bowl MVP if the Eagles could have won a close game over the Chiefs. His status has since cooled. It would quickly recover with a Super Bowl. Saquon Barkley would probably get more credit since the Eagles are barely passing the ball this postseason, but Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks always take a hit. That would hurt too.
7. Josh Harris, owner of Washington Commanders
Honestly, Daniel Snyder’s legacy is the one that will (somehow) become 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 considered a hero by a fan base that began to turn on his favorite team when Snyder knocked it into the ground. The decision to hire Adam Peters as general manager, Dan Quinn as head coach and Jayden Daniels in one offseason would be remembered in Washington for a long, long time.
6. Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo
With each Chiefs Super Bowl victory, Spagnuolo moves closer to history. There are no members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame who made it almost entirely due to their work as a coordinator. The coordinators in the room had great playing histories or achievements as head coaches. Spagnuolo did not play in the NFL and has a career record of 11-41 as a head coach.
But he is the only coordinator with four Super Bowl rings and the only one with a ring from two different franchises (he also won one with the 2007 Giants). Strong arguments are needed before Spagnuolo can make it as coordinator. Five rings, including two the last few seasons when the Chiefs’ defense was a big part of their success, would be a good start.
5. Washington Commanders coach Dan Quinn
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 only remember the infamous 28-3 loss to the New England Patriots.
That would change with a Super Bowl win, 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 a defensive coordinator, but coordinators don’t get enough credit for titles. A ring with the commanders would change his status significantly.
4 (tie). Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs
We package them because the stories are similar. Reid and Mahomes are already among the best ever as a head coach and quarterback. Three Super Bowl titles and seven consecutive trips to the AFC championship game make that happen. But every Super Bowl sees them move up the list. Mahomes needs every ring he can get if he wants to pass Tom Brady on the GOAT list. A new ring could get more people talking about Reid as the greatest coach in NFL history. The inheritances for both men are already secure. They can still get stronger.
3. Philadelphia Eagles RB Saquon Barkley
Barkley would join two lists if the Eagles win a Super Bowl. Assuming he plays reasonably well for two more games, Barkley could rise to the top of the list of best running back seasons ever. He has 2,638 total yards from scrimmage, counting the playoffs, and 17 touchdowns. He reached the magical milestone of 2,000 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 whatsoever.
Barkley would also find himself in the chat 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 QB Josh Allen
Allen has supporters who call 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 is all that matters.
Allen could at least narrow the gap in the coming weeks. If he wins a Super Bowl, it would mean the Bills beat Mahomes’ Chiefs this weekend. That would carry some weight. Allen has been playing at the elite level for some time. A Super Bowl would validate everything he’s done.
It would also be historic for Buffalo, given the grief over the playoffs over the years and the lack of a Super Bowl championship. One win would take away all the pain and make Allen a legend in Buffalo forever.
1. Washington Commanders QB Jayden Daniels
A good argument can be made that someone like Josh Allen should be the No. 1 pick. The conversation about him would change a lot with just one Super Bowl ring.
But Daniels was able to 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 that finished 4-13 a season ago to the Super Bowl, he would immediately move to the head of the line of greatest rookies ever, if he isn’t there already. This isn’t someone like Ben Roethlisberger starting for a good Pittsburgh Steelers team in 2004 and not screwing things up. Daniels carries this Washington team. It will be at least a year or two before we see the commanders at full strength. And Daniels has invited them to a conference championship game.
A Super Bowl as a rookie would be unprecedented and define the conversation about Daniels’ career for years to come. Even with starting quarterbacks more advanced than ever, it could be a long time before another starting QB wins a Super Bowl. If Daniels gets the job done, he could remain alone on the roster for years.
