Football season has come and gone, but that only means it's time to prepare for next football season. To that end, EA has released the first 16 cover athlete nominees for Madden NFL 13, covering the AFC West and NFC West divisions. Voting begins March 7.

ESPN (via Kotaku) details the picks. The NFC West division includes Larry Fitzgerald and Patrick Peterson (Cardinals), Patrick Willis and Vernon Davis (49ers), Marshawn Lynch and Golden Tate (Seahawks), and Brandon Lloyd and Chris Long (Rams). The AFC West adds Tim Tebow and Von Miller (Broncos), Dwane Bowe and Derrick Johnson (Chiefs), Shane Lechler an Sebastion Janikowski (Raiders), and Antonio Gates and Philip Rivers (Chargers).

EA is continuing to drip out candidates on its official Madden Twitter account, and has moved into the AFC East division today. Once all 64 nominees are revealed, the battle royale will begin.