Now that the NFL is expected to vote to allow the league's players to compete in the first ever flag football competition at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, it's worth wondering which athletes will suit up for the U.S. national team when the games kick off in just over three years. With that in mind, Rotowire.com broke down which NFL players have the best odds of making the team, with MVPs like Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson joining up-and-coming talent like Bijan Robinson, Cooper DeJean and Sauce Gardner on the projected roster.
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Position | Player | Current Team |
QB | Kansas City Chiefs | |
QB | Baltimore Ravens | |
RB | Atlanta Falcons | |
WR | Miami Dolphins | |
WR | Cincinnati Bengals | |
WR | Minnesota Vikings | |
Rusher | Dallas Cowboys | |
DB | New York Jets | |
DB | Denver Broncos | |
DB | Philadelphia Eagles | |
S | Baltimore Ravens | |
S | Antoine Winfield Jr. | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
Top NFL Stars Predicted for 2028 Olympic Flag Football
When it comes to the U.S. flag football team in L.A., there's no denying that NFL mainstays like Mahomes and Jackson will be among the pros called in, with the two combining for an approximate value of 237 (per Pro-Football-Reference.com) with 52,411 yards and 411 passing touchdowns between them in their still-young careers.
The two gunslingers from the AFC have also won two AP MVPs apiece while serving as captains for their respective teams, giving the U.S. collective a solid anchor to lean on when the Games kick off in 2028, though there's plenty more talent beyond those two quarterbacks.
That's because rising stars like Robinson of the Falcons (and his 21 AV in 34 games played) and veteran pass catchers like Tyreek Hill of the Miami Dolphins, Ja'Marr Chase of the Cincinnati Bengals and Justin Jefferson of the Minnesota Vikings are the other offensive players that we project to make the 2028 U.S. flag football roster.
Those three wideouts have combined to rack up 230 AV in their respective NFL careers, with Hill being the elder statesman of the group, having racked up 116 AV and 82 touchdown catches and 11,098 yards, while Jefferson (63 AV, 7,432 yards and 40 touchdown catches) and Chase (51 AV, 5,425 yards and 46 touchdown catches) aren't far behind.
Defensive Standouts on USA's 2028 Olympic Flag Football Team
Defensively, America's leading pass rusher would be Micah Parsons of the Dallas Cowboys, who is a four-time Pro Bowl outside linebacker that's accumulated 60 AV in 63 games played, making 172 solo tackles and forcing nine fumbles during that span.
In the defensive backfield, the American team could rely on ballhawks like Sauce Gardner of the New York Jets, Patrick Surtain II of the Denver Broncos and Cooper DeJean of the Philadelphia Eagles at the defensive back position, with Kyle Hamilton of the Baltimore Ravens and Antoine Winfield Jr. of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers rounding out the squad at the safety position in 2028.
Of that quintet of defensive backfield talent, Surtain has achieved the most on-field success in the NFL, with 44 AV to his name (per Pro-Football-Reference.com), while Winfield (39 AV), Gardner (32 AV), Hamilton (23 AV) and DeJean (5 AV) round out the list in the secondary.
What we know right now is that NFL players will likely get to compete in the Summer Games for the first time ever come 2028, with some of the greatest gridiron talent in the world taking the fields of Los Angeles for the Games.
