2026 Pro Football Hall of Fame class unveiled

The Chargers gave the reins to 2004 first-rounder Philip Rivers, leading Brees to free agency. A Dolphins-Saints duel developed. Dolphins doctors not expressing confidence in Brees’ shoulder led the then-Nick Saban-coached team to bow out, and the Saints gave Brees a five-year, $60M deal with $20M guaranteed. He outplayed that contract and the rest of the deals he signed.

Brees lasted 15 years as the Saints’ starter. The franchise entered the Brees era with one playoff win in 39 years; the Saints now have 10 postseason victories, with the QB’s retirement marking a clear line of demarcation for the NFC South franchise.

Brees joined first-year HC Sean Payton upon signing with the Saints and guided them to the 2006 NFC championship game. That season followed a 3-13 campaign overshadowed by Hurricane Katrina. While the Saints lost to the Bears in the NFC title game, Brees earned his first and only first-team All-Pro honor. One of the best players never to win an MVP award — Tomlinson claimed the 2006 prize after scoring an NFL-record 31 touchdowns — Brees still lapped the QB field in other areas. The 13-time Pro Bowler has five 5,000-yard passing seasons. No one else has more than two.

Brees broke Dan Marino‘s single-season passing yardage record in 2008 and topped that total in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2016. Brees broke his own single-season yardage record with 5,476 in 2011. That Saints team, which featured Jimmy Graham and Marques Colston as Brees’ top pass catchers, still holds the single-season yardage record (7,474) despite the NFL moving to a 17-game season in 2021. While Manning broke Brees’ yardage record in 2013, the New Orleans staple took down the ex-Colts and Broncos icon’s career marks later in the 2010s.

The Saints won their only Super Bowl thanks largely to Brees’ contributions. They started 13-0 in 2009 and earned the NFC’s No. 1 seed. Two fourth-quarter Tracy Porter interceptions helped the Saints hold off the Vikings and Colts. Brees earned Super Bowl XLIV MVP honors in the team’s 31-17 victory, completing 32 of 39 passes for 288 yards and two touchdowns. Unfortunately for Brees, a string of brutal playoff losses followed that coronation.

On the wrong side of Beastquake, a shootout loss to the 49ers the following year, the Minneapolis Miracle, and an infamous uncalled pass interference sequence that prompted the NFL try replay review for the play burned the Saints. But Brees extended his prime into his late 30s and set multiple career records.

Still holding the single-season completion percentage record (74.4% in 2018), Brees set the career touchdown pass standard with No. 540 in 2019. He had broken Manning’s career yardage record early in the 2018 season. Brady eventually caught Brees in both categories, but it took the Patriots and Buccaneers legend more time to do so.

While Rivers came out of retirement to delay his Hall of Fame case by five years, Brees’ San Diego successor was not certain to be enshrined in this class. Brees has been a first-ballot lock for a long time, playing through his age-41 season. Brees signed five Saints contracts, including a five-year, $100M extension in 2012 and a pair of two-year, $50M pacts (2018, 2020). His 2012 offseason helped set a precedent for franchise-tagged players, with an arbitrator ruling the Saints tagging him that year counted as his second tag (as the Chargers had tagged him in 2005). This helped protect players who changed teams, as the two-tag rule applied to a career rather than just one team.

Roger Craig, running back (1983-93)

As Bill Walsh‘s West Coast Offense was gaining steam, a former Nebraska cog became a pivotal chess piece in the Hall of Fame coach’s fifth San Francisco season. With the 49ers from 1983-90, Roger Craig shined as a dual-threat running back. Playing some fullback early in his career, Craig transitioned to the lead RB in Joe Montana‘s offense. The senior candidate became the first player to post a 1,000-1,000 season, doing so in 1985. Craig rushed for 1,050 rushing yards and accumulated 1,016 receiving yards that season. He led the NFL in receptions that year and finished with 15 touchdowns.

The 49ers drafted Craig in the 1983 second round. The team had acquired Wendell Tyler from the Rams that offseason, but both backs totaled 176 carries in ’83. Tyler led the 49ers in rushing in 1984, but Craig punctuated that season with a three-touchdown Super Bowl XIX effort. Craig totaled 135 scrimmage yards in the 49ers’ rout of the Dolphins, one that cemented San Francisco’s ’84 iteration — an 18-1 team — as being among the greatest squads in NFL history. Craig commandeered lead RB duties in 1985 and held them for the rest of the decade.

Craig earned All-Decade acclaim for his 49ers contributions. Famous for a high-knee running style, Craig produced three 1,000-yard rushing seasons and four 500-plus-yard receiving slates. He rushed for a career-high 1,502 yards — 46 of those on this gem in Anaheim — in 1988, helping the 49ers as they held extended QB battle between Montana and Steve Young. Craig then assisted Montana to MVP honors in 1989 with his third 1,000-yard year.

While Craig finished his career with stints on the Raiders (1991) and Vikings (1992-93), he is best remembered as a 49er. He finished his career with 13,100 scrimmage yards and 73 TDs. Craig joins Montana, Young, Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott and Charles Haley as Walsh-era 49ers enshrined in Canton.

Larry Fitzgerald, wide receiver (2004-20)

The Cardinals had already found a wide receiver gem in 2003, selecting Offensive Rookie of the Year Anquan Boldin in the second round. That came after the team chose Bryant Johnson in the 2003 first round. But Arizona did well to take the best player available a year later, nabbing Larry Fitzgerald third overall. Drafted at just 20, Fitzgerald played his entire career with the Cardinals. Like Brees, this involved a few short-term contracts. It also featured a then-record-setting wide receiver pact (seven years, $113M) in 2011.

Fitzgerald is almost certainly the best player in the Cardinals’ 100-plus-year history. The surehanded pass-catcher earned 11 Pro Bowl honors and landed on the 2010s’ All-Decade team. The three-time All-Pro did not have some of the advantages at quarterback many of his Hall of Fame peers did. The Cardinals struggled to find a reliable arm between the Kurt Warner and Carson Palmer tenures, and they missed on Josh Rosen in 2018. But Fitzgerald earned one his All-Pro honors between the Warner and Palmer years. The Palmer-Bruce Arians stretch revitalized the veteran receiver, but his career peak occurred with Warner and Ken Whisenhunt.

Although Cooper Kupp made a strong argument for best wide receiver postseason, Fitzgerald’s totals still reign supreme. The 6-foot-3 wideout’s 546 receiving yards during the 2008 playoffs lead the field by a healthy margin (Kupp’s 478 in 2021 ranks second).

Helping a 9-7 Cardinals team — one that ranked outside the top 20 in DVOA — to Super Bowl XLIII, Fitzgerald posted four 100-yard receiving games and caught a single-playoff-record seven touchdown passes. This included three in an Arizona NFC championship win over Philadelphia and two against a menacing Pittsburgh defense. Fitzgerald’s second Super Bowl TD — a 64-yard catch-and-run — gave the Cardinals a lead late in the fourth quarter. Their defense could not hold it, and Fitz did not advance to another Super Bowl.

The Cards did reach another NFC championship game, motoring to the 2015 third round after a franchise-record 13 wins. After three straight sub-1,000-yard seasons, Fitzgerald resurfaced with 1,215 yards and nine touchdowns. Playing more of a slot role under Arians, Fitzgerald made a considerable difference in the Cardinals’ divisional-round win over the Packers. After two miraculous Aaron Rodgers-to-Jeff Janis heaves forced overtime, Fitz denied the Pack a possession with a 75-yard sprint and a 5-yard shovel-pass TD.

Fitzgerald retired in second place in career receptions (1,432) and receiving yards (17,492). Fitz is more than 100 catches north of third place all time (Tony Gonzalez) and he sits more than 1,500 yards ahead of third place on that list (Terrell Owens). A model teammate and among the most dependable players in NFL history, Fitzgerald is among a handful of wide receivers enshrined on the first ballot.

Luke Kuechly, linebacker (2012-19)

Joining Cam Newton in driving the Panthers to their highest peak, Luke Kuechly is the most decorated player in team history. The star middle linebacker finished his career with seven straight All-Pro accolades. Five of those were first-team honors, elevating Kuechly to a high place among off-ball linebackers of any era.

The Panthers chose Kuechly ninth overall out of Boston College in 2012. Despite the lofty investment in a non-rush ‘backer, Kuechly immediately rewarded the Panthers and distinguished himself as an all-around player. Viewed as a top-notch coverage LB, Kuechly led the NFL in tackles during his rookie season — en route to a Defensive Rookie of the Year runaway — and in 2014. In between, Kuechly interrupted J.J. Watt’s Defensive Player of the Year reign, claiming that honor by making 156 tackles (10 for loss) to go with four interceptions. The Panthers claimed the NFC’s No. 2 seed that season.

Although Newton’s outlier MVP season powered the Panthers to a 15-1 record and Super Bowl 50 in 2015, Kuechly gave that No. 1-ranked offense backing by leading a Sean McDermott’s defense to a sixth-place finish.

Given a then-top-market extension (five years, $61.79M) during the 2015 offseason, Kuechly followed it up with a four-INT season that included a Derrick Brooks-like TD rate. Kuechly notched two pick-sixes during the regular season and added two more in the playoffs, taking INTs back for scores in wins over the Seahawks and Cardinals. He later sacked Peyton Manning in Super Bowl 50.

Concussion trouble prompted Kuechly to end his career early. He suffered three from 2015-17, with a 2016 head injury keying a shutdown. While Kuechly did not sustain any documented concussions during his final two seasons, he retired shortly after the ’19 season — at just 28. Kuechly was on pace to be one of the greatest linebackers in NFL history, and he maximized his truncated run in the NFL. Becoming one of the highest-profile athletes in any sport to cite concussions in retiring early, Kuechly joins only former Lions great Joe Schmidt as the only off-ball LBs to earn five first-team All-Pro honors by 28.

Adam Vinatieri, kicker (1996-2019)

The NFL’s all-time leading scorer, Adam Vinatieri made three of the most important field goals in league history. The 1996 Patriots UDFA played until age 47, being one of just four players — joining kickers Morten Andersen and Gary Anderson and QB/kicker George Blanda — in playing into his late 40s. Passing Andersen late during his Indianapolis stay, Vinatieri’s 2,673 points more than 700 clear of the closest active player’s total.

While Vinatieri made two Super Bowl walk-off shots to launch the Patriots’ dynasty, his most impressive make came two weeks before Super Bowl XXXVI. The South Dakota State alum drilled a 45-yarder in the final minute during a snowy divisional-round game against the Raiders. Better known for the infamous Tuck Rule decision, that game also featured a Vinatieri game-winner after his previous make forced overtime.

Vinatieri stayed with the Patriots for 10 seasons and made a key difference in the AFC’s defining rivalry of that period. After Mike Vanderjagt shanked a game-tying try to leave the Colts eliminated as the No. 1 seed in Round 2 of the 2005 playoffs, they let their longtime kicker walk in free agency and gave Vinatieri – franchise-tagged by the Patriots in 2005 – a five-year, $12M deal. Vinatieri signed five more Colts contracts, doing so after helping the team beat the Patriots in the 2006 AFC championship game and then defeat the Bears in the rain in Super Bowl XLI.

The four-time Super Bowl winner earned three first-team All-Pro nods, the last of those coming at age 42 in 2014, and while his 83.8% connect rate sits just 39th among qualified options, kickers continue to become more accurate. No one who entered the NFL before Vinatieri ranks above him on the all-time accuracy list. The 24-year vet joins Blanda, Andersen, Lou Groza and Jan Stenerud as Hall of Fame kickers.

Here are the players, coaches and contributors among this year’s finalists contingent who were not enshrined:

• Ken Anderson, QB
• Willie Anderson, T
• Bill Belichick, coach
• Jahri Evans, G
• Frank Gore, RB
• L.C. Greenwood, DE
• Torry Holt, WR
• Robert Kraft, owner
• Eli Manning, QB
• Terrell Suggs, EDGE
• Reggie Wayne, WR
• Kevin Williams, DT
• Jason Witten, TE
• Darren Woodson, S
• Marshal Yanda, OL

Belichick will likely be enshrined in 2027, but his omission this year proved shocking. Spygate and a voting system that lumps coaches and contributors with senior candidates is believed to be behind Belichick missing out. This could lead to a change in how the Hall of Fame inducts coaches. The North Carolina HC, he of eight Super Bowl wins (two as Giants DC), did not come up for a coaching job this offseason.

Eli Manning missed out for a second year. With the induction process altered to raise the bar for Hall induction, the postseason Giants hero continues to see his spottier regular-season work keep him out of Canton. The wide receiver logjam has gripped Holt and Wayne for a bit as well. Holt has been on the ballot for over a decade, with Wayne nearing that point.

Witten, who delayed his Hall of Fame clock by two years upon unretiring in 2019, sits fourth all time in career catches but was denied first-ballot enshrinement. A semifinalist this year, Rivers stalled his clock by five after his shocking return to the Colts. Gore sits third on the all-time rushing list, but he was only a one-time All-Pro. Still, Gore’s nine 1,000-yard rushing seasons will surely generate induction down the road.

Suggs, Yanda and Willie Anderson were among the final seven candidates considered for the Hall this year, according to Panthers.com’s Darin Gantt. Since tackles for loss became an official stat in 1999, Suggs is the leader with 202. The former Defensive Player of the Year will need to wait a bit longer before joining ex-Ravens teammates Ed Reed and Ray Lewis in Canton.

Ditto Yanda, an 2010s All-Decade guard who joined Reed, Lewis and Suggs on Baltimore’s Super Bowl XLVII-winning 2012 team. Willie Anderson was one of the game’s best tackles during a banner era for the position, dominating at right tackle for the Bengals and Ravens. By making the final seven, Suggs, Yanda and Willie Anderson will be automatic 2027 finalists, Gantt adds.