Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026: Who Is Eligible for the First Time?

The Pro Football Hall of Fame last year made a significant change to its selection process, and its intent to limit the number of annual inductees — thus making it more of an elite honor — immediately took effect. After a long stretch in which eight or nine annual inductees was the norm, the Hall’s Class of 2025 comprises just four members. When Eric Allen, Jared Allen, Antonio Gates and Sterling Sharpe are enshrined in Canton this weekend, it will be the smallest incoming class in 20 years.

Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026: Who Is Eligible for the First Time? originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame last year made a significant change to its selection process, and its intent to limit the number of annual inductees — thus making it more of an elite honor — immediately took effect. After a long stretch in which eight or nine annual inductees was the norm, the Hall’s Class of 2025 comprises just four members. When Eric Allen, Jared Allen, Antonio Gates and Sterling Sharpe are enshrined in Canton this weekend, it will be the smallest incoming class in 20 years.

The Hall hasn’t enshrined fewer than six in any given year since the Class of 2005 featured Benny Friedman, Dan Marino, Fritz Pollard and Steve Young.

Last year’s 20 finalists were made up of 15 modern-era candidates, three seniors committee members, one coach candidate and one contributor. Under the new selection guidelines, each year’s class will be a minimum of four — at least three modern-era candidates and at least one from the senior/coach/contributor pool. The class could be as many as eight — a maximum of five modern-era and three senior/coach/contributors.

The Class of 2025 produced the minimum — despite the fact that a few in their first year of eligibility received strong consideration. Eli Manning, Adam Vinatieri. Luke Kuechly and Marshal Yanda were all first-year eligibles who were among the list of finalists.

Theoretically, Manning, Vinatieri, Kuechly and Yanda will continue to be strong candidates to receive gold jackets. One problem, though: The competition for Canton gets considerably tougher when some big names get thrown into the mix.

Check out the players who will be eligible for the first time in 2026. The list includes a couple of no-brainer first-ballot Hall of Famers and a few more who could easily be among the Class of 2026.

Drew Brees

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees

The NFL’s top two quarterbacks in career passing yards and touchdowns are both still awaiting their Canton moments. Tom Brady, who is No. 1 on both of those lists to go along with his seven Super Bowl rings, won’t be eligible until 2028. Brees, who is second behind Brady with 80,358 yards and 571 TD passes, has only one Super Bowl win to his credit. Still, he’s a first-ballot lock.

Larry Fitzgerald

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald

One of the few all-time great receivers to play his entire career for one team. Fitzgerald ended his Cardinals tenure with 1,452 receptions for 17,492 yards — both numbers rank second only to the legendary Jerry Rice. Fitzgerald’s 121 career TD receptions rank fifth all-time. Even with Sterling Sharpe getting in this year, there is still a logjam of wide receivers — including Torry Holt, Reggie Wayne and Steve Smith Sr. — waiting in the wings. But Fitzgerald immediately skips to the front of that line. He is sure to be enshrined next year, when he’ll join Aeneas Williams as the only two Hall of Famers to play most or all of their careers with the Arizona Cardinals.

Frank Gore

San Francisco 49ers running back Frank Gore

Gore retired in 2020 with exactly 16,000 career rushing yards — only Emmitt Smith (18,355) and Walter Payton (16,726) have more. A total of 16 players in NFL history have rushed for at least 12,000 yards. The only two who aren’t in the Hall of Fame yet are Gore and Adrian Peterson, and that’s only because they’re not yet eligible (Peterson’s first year of eligibility is 2027). Ten of the top 12 all-time rushers are in the Hall — and eight of those 10 were first-ballot selections. Only Curtis Martin and Jerome Bettis had to wait.

Maurkice Pouncey

Pittsburgh Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey

Whether or not Pouncey gets into Canton in his first year, rest assured he will be there eventually. Pouncey was such a dominant center when he reached the NFL in 2010 that he actually received two votes for Offensive Rookie of the Year … a center! Pouncey was a nine-time Pro Bowler for the Pittsburgh Steelers. More importantly, he carried on the franchise’s storied tradition of excellence at the center position. Mike Webster was the team’s rock from 1974-88. Dermontti Dawson took over for Webster and dominated from 1988-2000. Webster and Dawson are both in the Hall. Pouncey will not be far behind.

Philip Rivers

Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers

This is a fascinating three-year stretch for the trio of great quarterbacks who were drafted in 2004. Eli Manning was eligible for the first time this year, and he was a finalist before ultimately falling short of induction. Rivers gets his eligibility debut in 2026, and Ben Roethlisberger follows in 2027. Will Rivers and/or Roethlisberger get in before Manning? Rivers stands at sixth in career passing yards (Roethlisberger is fifth; Manning 11th). Rivers is sixth in TD passes with 421 (Roethliberger is eighth; Manning is 11th). Of course, Roethlisberger and Manning have two Super Bowl rings apiece, and Rivers never played in the Super Bowl. Rivers might be the best QB among these three, but getting to Canton in his first year on the ballot could be tough.   

Jason Witten

Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten

Amazingly, Witten is fourth all-time in career receptions with 1,228 — trailing only Tony Gonzalez among tight ends. He’s also second among tight ends in receiving yards with 13,046, though that’s good for 20th overall. Witten’s 74 career touchdown receptions rank fifth among tight ends, and here’s where the first-year chances take a hit: While Antonio Gates holds the all-time mark for TD receptions by a tight end with 116, he was inexplicably not a first-ballot Hall of Famer when he became eligible in 2024. If Gates wasn’t a first-ballot Hall of Famer and he had 42 more touchdowns than Witten, that feels like a deal-breaker.

Others of note in their first year of eligibility: Geno Atkins, Stephen Gostkowski, LeSean McCoy, Mike Iupati, Greg Olsen, Julian Edelman, Thomas Davis

Here are the 12 finalists who fell short for the Class of 2025:

Willie Anderson
Jahri Evans
Torry Holt
Luke Kuechly
Eli Manning
Steve Smith Sr.
Terrell Suggs
Fred Taylor
Adam Vinatieri
Reggie Wayne
Darren Woodson
Marshal Yanda

Now, these 12 players must compete with the newly eligible just to get back to being a finalist. From there, a maximum of five can be selected. It won’t be easy. Of course, this is the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Achieving football immortality shouldn’t be easy.

Related: Hall of Fame Wait Is Finally Over for Sterling Sharpe

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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 31, 2025, where it first appeared.

Category: Football