While the 2025 Pro Football Hall of Fame induction class is about to be announced, it’s never too early to take a look at who might be getting the call to Canton, Ohio in 2026.
A ton of notable players will become eligible for induction in 2026, along with Bill Belichick, one of the greatest coaches in NFL history. Players must be retired for at least five years to be eligible, while coaches recently saw their waiting period reduced from five seasons to one.
Here’s a quick rundown of some of the notable players who will be eligible for the first time.
Of this list of players, Brees and Fitzgerald figure to be locks for induction next year, along with Belichick, who led the Patriots to a record six Super Bowl wins during his time in New England. Brees retired as the NFL’s career leader in both passing yards and touchdown passes (he is currently second to Tom Brady in both categories). Brees also has a Super Bowl win and Super Bowl MVP trophy to boot. Fitzgerald is second to only Jerry Rice in both career receptions and receiving yards. His signature moment was his prolific 2008 playoff run that ended with a close loss to Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl.
Gore will also receive heavy consideration next year, given that he is third all time in career rushing yards. Rivers likely will, too, but voters may decide to only select one quarterback for next year’s class, which would force Rivers to wait at least a year before he gets his call to Canton. Rivers will get in at some point, as he is sixth all time in both career passing yards and touchdown passes.
McCoy, Gurley, Pouncey and Edelman have interesting, albeit different, cases. McCoy’s career numbers are good, but he just misses the unofficial cut (12,000 career rushing yards) required for running backs to receive near-automatic enshrinement. Gurley’s career started off with a bang, but it was cut extremely short due to injury. Pouncey has the accolades, but it’s hard for linemen to make the Hall of Fame. Edelman is one of the greatest postseason performers ever, but his regular-season numbers don’t measure up.
I’m predicting that Brees, Fitzgerald, Gore and Belichick will make it in their first year of eligibility. The rest of the first-time eligible players will join a lengthy list of former players who are hoping that their careers are one day deemed worthy of enshrinement.
