After the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026 was enshrined in Canton, it’s time to look ahead.
Drew Brees, Larry Fitzgerald, Luke Kuechly, Adam Vinatieri and Roger Craig joined the prestigious club on Saturday at the annual enshrinement ceremony. Who will join them next summer, though?
Well, next year’s ballot is even more loaded than this one. A trio of players will likely be considered as first-ballot selections, plus there’s an impressive crop of returning candidates who just missed the cut last year. Between four and eight candidates can get in each year, so it will be a contentious debate in the coming months.
Here’s a look at the top names who could join the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2026:
First-ballot potential
- Rob Gronkowski
- Adrian Peterson
- Ben Roethlisberger
Three players have a legitimate chance to make it on their first try.
Widely considered one of the greatest tight ends of all-time, Gronkowski is a lock. Over his 11 seasons with the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he won four Super Bowls, made five Pro Bowls and was first-team All-Pro four times. Gronkowski had 92 regular season TDs (third-most by a TE), 15 postseason TDs (third all-time among all pass catchers) and five Super Bowl TDs (second all-time).
Peterson was the most dominant running back of his era, winning MVP in 2012 when he topped 2,000 yards coming off a torn ACL the previous December. His prime years came with the Minnesota Vikings from 2007 to 2016, where he became the franchise’s all-time leader in rushing yards and touchdowns. He ranks fifth all-time with 122 rushing touchdowns and 14,918 rushing yards.
In 18 seasons for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Big Ben was one of the league’s best quarterbacks. He burst onto the scene as Rookie of the Year in 2004, going 13-0 before the Steelers lost to Tom Brady’s Patriots in the AFC title game. He led Pittsburgh to the Super Bowl a year later, then added another ring in 2008. Roethlisberger sits top-10 all-time in passing yards and touchdowns.
Other first-year candidates
- Richard Sherman
- Antonio Brown
- Cam Newton
- Andrew Whitworth
- Eric Weddle
- Gerald McCoy
- Le’Veon Bell
- Joe Haden
- Malcolm Jenkins
- Brandon Brooks
- Dont’a Hightower
- Ryan Kerrigan
In any other year, some of these first-year candidates would be strongly considered. But the three aforementioned players will make it difficult for this group to get in.
Sherman is the top contender in this tier. The self-proclaimed “best corner in the game” was one of the pillars of the Seattle Seahawks’ Legion of Boom defense, which won one Super Bowl and lost another in heartbreaking fashion. Sherman was a first-team All-Pro three times and made it to the Pro Bowl five times.
If you just looked at Brown’s nine seasons with the Steelers, he looks like a Hall of Fame lock. But what happened in the years afterward make his case cloudy — ugly flameouts with the Raiders, Patriots and Bucs ended his career prematurely. Brown’s resume includes four first-team All-Pro selections, seven Pro Bowl selections and a Super Bowl with the Bucs.
Newton, Whitworth and Weddle are fringe contenders who could get in several years down the road. Newton was league MVP in 2014 and led the Carolina Panthers to a Super Bowl loss, but his year-to-year inconsistency will make his case a tough one, despite being one of the best mobile quarterbacks in NFL history. Whitworth was a 16-year starter at left tackle for the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams, making four Pro Bowls. Weddle made first-team All-Pro twice with the San Diego Chargers as one of the league’s top free safeties.
Returning finalists
- Bill Belichick
- Eli Manning
- Frank Gore
- Terrell Suggs
- Darren Woodson
- Jahri Evans
- Jason Witten
- Marshal Yanda
- Reggie Wayne
- Torry Holt
- Willie Anderson
- Kevin Williams
- Robert Kraft
Beyond the first-year candidates, a number of returning finalists have a case to finally break through.
Belichick was the biggest snub last year, with the six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach shockingly being left out. The quarterback who cost him two more rings, Eli Manning, will again be considered for his third year on the ballot, along with fellow 2019 retirees in Suggs and Yanda.
Gore and Witten were finalists in their first year on the ballot, respectively, and both have strong resumes. Williams was a first-time finalist last year in his sixth year of eligibility.
Wayne and Holt have both been finalists for seven straight years as they continue to await hearing their name called. Anderson and Woodson have been finalists for five and four straight years, respectively. Kraft was a first-time finalist last year, but the Patriots’ longtime owner was not selected.
Other returning candidates
- Lomas Brown
- Rodney Harrison
- Robert Mathis
- Steve Smith Sr.
- Fred Taylor
- Earl Thomas
- Hines Ward
- Richmond Webb
- Vince Wilfork
- Steve Wisniewski
- Tom Coughlin
- Mike Holmgren
- George Seifert
- Mike Shanahan
- Art Rooney Jr.
- Bud Adams
Several returning candidates who weren’t finalists are often elevated to the next stage the following year. With how loaded the 2027 class could be, that may be challenging for this group.
Brown, Harrison, Mathis, Smith Sr., Taylor, Thomas, Ward, Webb, Wisniewski and Wilfork were semifinalists in 2026 on the modern-era ballot. For coaches, Coughlin, Holmgren, Seifert and Shanahan were among the semifinalists. Adams and Rooney Jr. were semifinalists in the contributor group.
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