Eli Manning? Bill Belichick? Who’s Next for Pro Football Hall of Fame?

This year’s four-person class for the Pro Football Hall of Fame of Eric Allen, Jared Allen, Antonio Gates and Sterling Sharpe was the smallest since 2005. But that likely will change next year.

For starters, there are a handful of first-time eligible candidates with sterling résumés, including Larry Fitzgerald, Drew Brees and Frank Gore. In the coaching category, Bill Belichick will be eligible for the first time. All four have a good chance to make it into the Hall as first-time candidates.

Add to that a handful of players who have been knocking on the door as repeat finalists — Torry Holt, Willie Anderson and Reggie Wayne — and it seems likely we’ll have more than four candidates make it into Canton in 2026. Anderson, Holt, Adam Vinatieri and Luke Kuechly were among the final seven modern-era candidates this year. They automatically advance to the final 15 for the upcoming process. 

Eric Allen, Jared Allen, Antonio Gates and Sterling Sharpe were inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Aug. 2. (Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

To be eligible for the Hall of Fame, players must be retired for at least five years, while the wait for coaches was reduced from five years to one. Before the 2025 class, voters in the modern-era category cut the field from 10 to five and then voted on those five players separately. If a player got 80% of the vote, they were in, and nearly all of them made it once they got to that point.

However, the Hall implemented stricter rules last year to ensure exclusivity of membership, allowing at least four inductees but no more than eight from the 20 finalists selected (15 modern-day finalists and a high of five from seniors, coach and contributors categories). 

The 15