Sometimes a cover image is just so interesting that folks would like to know more about it, or maybe you would like to give someone credit for the image, and a host of other reasons.?
Additionally (or optionally), It would also be nice to specificity where the caption goes relative to the image (top, bottom, left, right), its justification (+ or - 90 degrees), its orientation, its color, including the option of being overlaid within the boundary of the image itself.
--Mike