While several veteran NFL superstars like Travis Kelce, Tyreek Hill, Mike Evans, and Matthew Stafford have already cemented their legacies with Super Bowl rings, the clock is ticking on several big-named studs to hoist the Lombardi Trophy once and for all.
Before we start, we’d like to clarify the criteria: The player has to be at least 30 years of age and playing a position where they’re prone to declining relatively soon.
With that, let’s look at five NFL stars who will win a Super Bowl before they retire…and five who WON’T.
Which stars will win a Super Bowl before retiring, and which ones will not?
Will: Derrick Henry
A good chunk of Henry’s prime years were wasted on a mediocre Tennessee Titans game that only bought him three postseason victories. Fortunately, the two-time rushing champion found the perfect landing spot to pursue a ring in the late stages of his career.
Henry signed a two-year deal with the Baltimore Ravens worth a bargain $16 million in free agency. The fit in Lamar Jackson’s rush-first offense has come as advertised, and it really just feels like a matter of time until these two celebrate a ring together.
The Ravens’ offense is as dangerous as ever, with the future Hall of Famer joining forces with Jackson, Zay Flowers, and Mark Andrews. Even in his age 30/31 season, Henry has shown no signs of slowing down and looks like he can pull off Frank Gore-like longevity.
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We’re betting on Baltimore to eventually win a Super Bowl with the Henry-Jackson super tandem. The Ravens are in the mix every year. They went to the AFC Championship Game last season.
This is their first year with Derrick Henry. A championship ring awaits the greatest running back of his generation.
Won’t: Davante Adams
Turn off the lights. Party’s over.
Just when we thought the New York Jets had saved Davante Adams from the sinking ship that was the 2024 Las Vegas Raiders…he jumped on the Jets’ train as it was falling off the rails.
The desperate Jets tried to save their season by acquiring Adams in a blockbuster trade with Vegas, reuniting him with longtime friend and ex-Green Bay Packers teammate Aaron Rodgers. Yet somehow, the Jets have been as unwatchable this year as the Raiders.
The Jets fired head coach Robert Saleh after a Week 5 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. Six weeks later, they fired GM Joe Douglas following a stunning home loss to the Indianapolis Colts. Go figure.
Even if the Jets run it back with the same core next year, do y’all really think Rodgers and Adams will turn back the clock to the 2014 to 2021 years? This team is in shambles, and no legitimate Super Bowl contender will want to take on Rodgers or Adams’ hefty contracts at this phase of their careers.
Going to the Jets was Adams’ last real shot at a Super Bowl. Sadly, he’s joining a list of all-time great WRs like Randy Moss, Tim Brown, Andre Reed, and Cris Carter, who never won it all.
Will: George Kittle
2024 hasn’t gone as planned for the San Francisco 49ers, yes. And maybe you don’t buy the injuries as an excuse. But heading into next season, every core player, minus George Kittle and Trent Williams, will still be under the age of 30.
Christian McCaffrey. Deebo Samuel. Brandon Aiyuk. Brock Purdy. Nick Bosa. Fred Warner. Talanoa Hufanga. So yeah, bet against these guys at your own risk.
The 49ers’ championship window is still wide open. And though George Kittle is now on the wrong side of 30, the Pro Bowl tight end remains one of football’s premier playmakers when
he’s healthy and on the field.
So we’re still confident these 49ers can win a Super Bowl in the next three years. As a world-class run-blocker, Kittle should still be a valuable part of Kyle Shanahan’s offense – even if he’s not producing as much in the passing game.
It’s a bold declaration, Cotton. But we think the third time will prove to be a charm for Kittle after suffering two heartbreaking losses to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl.
Won’t: Zack Martin
As far as non-quarterback or wide receiver positions go, Zack Martin is as big a lock for Canton as it gets. I mean, nine Pro Bowl nods, seven first-team, and a pair of second-team all-pro selections over your first 10 seasons? Say no more.
Martin has had the honors of blocking for three rushing champions during his run with the Dallas Cowboys: For DeMarco Murray in 2014 and Ezekiel Elliott during the 2016 and ‘18 seasons.
Sadly, Jerry Jones and company mostly wasted the prime years of guys like Martin, Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick, Amari Cooper, and…well, now guys like Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, and Micah Parsons.
The 2024 Cowboys are an absolute trainwreck, and it’s clear they’ll never win a Super Bowl as long as Jones keeps himself in the GM chair. Even if Martin were to leave the Cowboys in the not-so-distant future, time is against the All-Pro guard, who’ll be 35 years of age next year.
Love or hate the Cowboys, few ringless NFL stars deserve a ring more than Zack Martin. Unfortunately, time is not on his side to win a Super Bowl before he calls it quits.
Also Read: Someone Uncovered A Mind-Blowing Theory Linking The Baltimore Ravens To Super Bowl 59
Will: Taylor Decker
Some Detroit Lions fans might want to see Jared Goff on this list instead. But he’s only 30 years old — young for a QB these days — and just keeps getting better with age. Most of Detroit’s core players are only in their early-to-mid-20s, too, so Decker was the only Lions superstar eligible for this list.
Decker has been vastly overlooked since entering the NFL in 2016. The Lions’ hulking offensive tackle, along with Frank Ragnow and Penei Sewell, helped form the best o-line in the league under head coach Dan Campbell.
This year, the Lions are clearly in a class of their own among NFC teams. If this isn’t the year they win the Super Bowl, well, we’re sure it’s coming in 2025. Or 2026. 2027 at the ABSOLUTE latest.
Decker stayed on in Detroit through the disastrous Matt Patricia-Bob Quinn days. His loyalty and patience will eventually pay off with a Super Bowl ring. Or two?
Won’t: Kirk Cousins
If Cousins was a few years younger, he wouldn’t be on this list. But alas, time is also working against the ex-Washington and Minnesota Vikings signal-caller.
The QB-needy Atlanta Falcons signed Cousins to a lucrative four-year deal worth $180 million in 2024 free agency. In a head-scratching move, the Falcons used the No. 8 pick on Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. just one month later.
In other words, Cousins is not actually part of the Falcons’ long-term plans. He’ll be 37 years old next year, and the Falcons look nothing like a real Super Bowl contender anyway.
They’re the best team in a weak NFC South. The offense isn’t living up to its full potential, even with that star-studded offense. The defense is mediocre at best, and it’s not like they’re on the verge of closing the gap with top NFC teams like the Lions, Philadelphia Eagles, or Green Bay Packers.
Cousins’ final prime years are locked into a good-not-great Atlanta team that doesn’t have the pieces to win a Super Bowl title. He might win a couple of division titles here, but the polarizing QB won’t come anywhere close to a Super Bowl before his career concludes.
Will: Danielle Hunter
Hunter made the right decision to leave the Vikings and sign with an up-and-coming Houston Texans squad in 2024 free agency. Having joined a team with a wide-open Super Bowl window, Hunter has put himself in a spot to eventually claim the Lombardi Trophy.
We know his deal with the Texans was a short-term pact worth $49 million, but GM Nick Caserio will want to hand Hunter a second contract after a monster first year in H-Town.
Hunter, Will Anderson Jr., and Derek Stingley Jr. headline one of the best defensive units in football. CJ Stroud, Nico Collins, Tank Dell, Joe Mixon, and Laremy Tunsil headline a star-studded offensive unit, too.
The Texans are well-positioned to compete for a Super Bowl over the remainder of Hunter’s prime. A Super Bowl is in the future of the four-time Pro Bowler.
Won’t: Keenan Allen
At first, the Keenan Allen trade looked like a coup for the Chicago Bears and a giant L for the Los Angeles Chargers. Joke’s on the Bears, we guess.
The Bears star-studded offense has been a mess for most of the 2024 season, hence the mid-season firing of offensive coordinator Shane Waldron. And when he’s been on the field, Allen has mostly been invisible in Chicago’s offense.
Meanwhile, the Chargers have re-emerged as a top AFC team in year one of the Jim Harbaugh era. So much for concerns about their wide receiver room after parting ways with both Allen and Mike Williams.
Anyway, the six-time Pro Bowler is clearly past his best-before date. The injury-prone wideout will be 33 years of age next year, and you can’t expect a real Super Bowl-contending team to have any interest in Allen.
Hindsight is 20/20, but Allen should have agreed to a significant pay cut to stay with the Bolts. Then he’d be chasing a ring right now. Instead, his one-year stop in Chicago is the latest reminder that the borderline Hall of Fame candidate will never get to celebrate a Super Bowl ring.
Join the club of great ringless receivers, Keenan.
Will: TJ Watt
With Aaron Donald retired, TJ Watt’s chances of winning additional Defensive Player of the Year awards have gone way up. In fact, it still feels like a travesty that he only has one said awkward on his resume.
If not for Donald, Watt or Myles Garrett would be viewed as the best Defensive Player of his generation. Take your pick.
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ superstar could retire today, and he’d still be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. All that’s missing now is a championship ring to complement Watt’s resume — something older brother JJ unfortunately never got to experience.
Now that the Steelers have found their answer at quarterback in Russell Wilson, they’ve officially made the leap from playoff contender to Super Bowl contender. At long last, the Steelers are back in the Lombardi Trophy mix after a half-decade of being an above-average football team.
Watt, Alex Highsmith, Cameron Heyward, Minkah Fitzpatrick, and Joey Porter Jr. round out a scary-good defensive nucleus that should dominate the next half-decade or so. Wilson still has plenty of football left, and he ain’t short on weapons with George Pickens, Najee Harris, Jaylen Warren, or Pat Freiermuth.
With a championship defense and a Hall of Fame head coach, why can’t the Steelers eventually win a Super Bowl in the Watt era? It probably won’t be this season, but there’s too much to like about the Steelers’ long-term outlook. Surely, Watt will add at least one ring to his resume before he calls it quits.
Won’t: Dak Prescott
We know 31 isn’t exactly ancient for a quarterback these days. But it already feels like Dak Prescott has peaked in Dallas, and yet his mammoth four-year, $240 million contract extension doesn’t even kick in until next year.
Prescott committed the rest of his prime years to Dallas. Jerry Jones condones mediocrity more than any other professional sports team owner, so good luck to Prescott in having an actual championship-caliber roster built around him.
We know a lot of money is nice. And playing QB for an iconic franchise like Prescott is a dream for millions of kids. But Prescott signed away any realistic hope of winning a Super Bowl by signing up for four more years of Jerry Jones’ garbage-filled circus.
Everyone loves to blame Jones, Prescott, and Mike McCarthy. It’s not Dak’s fault that Jones has failed to put a Super Bowl-caliber roster around him. It’s not his fault Jones moved on from Amari Cooper and Tony Pollard while they were in their respective primes.
Prescott has done the most he could with what Jones has given him. Put Prescott in a more well-managed organization, and we have no doubt he would have pushed for multiple Super Bowl titles.
His only real hope of winning a ring is being a backup QB on a Super Bowl contender late in his career. That’s way too difficult to forecast, so bet on Prescott retiring without a Super Bowl.
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