The Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026 was revealed Thursday night at NFL Honors, three days before Super Bowl LX.
Below are the members of the Class of 2026:
Drew Brees
The greatest Saints player in franchise history is marching into Canton on the first ballot. Brees, a 13-time Pro Bowler who led New Orleans back from the brink to its only Super Bowl title in the span of four years, was the most efficient QB of his era and yet somehow underrated. The diminutive passer was overlooked in the era of statuesque gunslingers Tom Brady and Peyton Manning and flashy throwers like Aaron Rodgers, but Brees was the most accurate and consistent QB of his era, setting new standards that are rarely reached in today's game. Brees threw for over 5,000 yards five times -- his record set in 2011 of 5,476 passing yards was eclipsed by Manning (by one yard) two years later -- and finished with over 70% completion seven times, including in his last five seasons. A sign of the times, Brees was never voted MVP and earned just one first-team All-Pro honor but twice won Offensive Player of the Year and earned Comeback Player of the Year in his fourth season in San Diego after being benched the year prior. A second-round pick of the Chargers in 2001, Brees left the Bolts following the 2005 season after he separated his throwing shoulder in the season finale and San Diego moved on to Philip Rivers. Thisclose to joining Nick Saban's Dolphins, Brees instead signed with the Saints, who, like the city of New Orleans, were recovering from the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Alongside then-head coach Sean Payton, Brees rejuvenated the city and the franchise, getting the Saints to the NFC title game in his first season and then leading them to glory over Manning's Colts in Super Bowl XLIV. Brees and the Saints never again reached that peak but were frequent playoff participants, winning four straight NFC South titles from 2017-2020 and coming a controversial pass interference call from likely another Super Bowl berth in 2018. Brees retired after falling to Brady's Buccaneers in the 2020 postseason, his 20th year in the pros. His 80,358 passing yards and 571 passing TDs rank behind Brady for second all-time. No longer the bridesmaid, Brees will now cap his football life by trading in his gold Saints helmet for a gold jacket.
Larry Fitzgerald
The No. 3 overall pick of the 2004 draft, Fitzgerald lived up to the hype and more during his now-Hall of Fame career, spent entirely in Arizona. Arguably the greatest Cardinals player in team history, Fitzgerald was a consistent producer over his 17 seasons in the desert. Though he never led the league in receiving yards, he went over 1,000 nine times and paced pass catchers in receptions and touchdowns twice. His lone first-team All-Pro nod came in the 2008 season, when he racked up a league-best 12 receiving TDs and a career-high 1,431 yards. Fitzgerald then carried the Cardinals to the brink of a Super Bowl title in an all-time playoff run, catching 30 passes for 546 yards and seven scores. If not for Ben Roethlisberger and Santonio Holmes, Fitzgerald's 64-yard catch and run to the end zone late in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLIII would have gone down as one of the greatest TDs in NFL history. But the Cards couldn't finish the job, Fitz's run for glory was all for naught and Arizona never again reached a Super Bowl in his career, coming close in 2015 but failing to break through. Understated and ever the professional, Fitzgerald never truly announced his retirement, leaving the game after the 2020 season to little fanfare. Despite rarely leading the NFL in such stats, the wideout's 1,432 receptions and 17,492 receiving yards rank second in league history, behind only the great Jerry Rice. After 11 Pro Bowl selections and nods on the All-2010s Team and NFL 100 All-Time Team, Fitzgerald can finally boast the ultimate honor: a first-ballot enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Luke Kuechly
In his second year of eligibility and as a finalist, Carolina's captain is headed to Canton. Kuechly, who will be 35 years old when he is enshrined this August, played just eight seasons for the Panthers, but he burned bright. The No. 9 overall pick of the 2012 draft, Kuechly followed up his Defensive Rookie of the Year campaign with his lone Defensive Player of the Year honor in 2013, earning his first of five first-team All-Pro selections in the process. The defensive heart of Carolina's 15-1 NFC title team in 2015, Kuechly was to the Panthers D what Cam Newton was to the offense: a singular, unifying force with unique traits and charisma to boot. The Panthers legend was one of the game's great tacklers, totaling at least 100 in each of his eight campaigns and leading the league in combined tackles in his first and third seasons. He retired in his prime following the 2019 season after a string of concussions and shoulder injuries left him intermittently sidelined. Kuechly finished his career with 1,092 tackles, 18 interceptions and 12.5 sacks, and parlayed his short but sweet career into an All-2010s Team recognition. Now, before the age of 40 with room to spare, Kuechly is headed to the Hall as an all-timer.
Adam Vinatieri
Though Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft did not earn their gold jackets this year, the man who kicked the legendary Patriots coach and owner to their first Super Bowl title has been voted to the Hall. Vinatieri, the leg behind game-winning field goals in Super Bowl XXXVI and XXXVIII and widely regarded as the clutchest kicker in NFL history, is headed to Canton in just his second year of eligibility and as a finalist. He's only the fifth kicker, part-time or full-time, to get a gold jacket, joining Lou Groza, George Blanda, Jan Stenerud and Morten Andersen. An undrafted free agent out of South Dakota State, Vinatieri signed with New England in 1996, earning a spot on the All-Rookie Team after scoring 120 points for Bill Parcells' Super Bowl-bound Pats. But it was under Belichick that Vinatieri became a household name. His game-tying and -winning field goals in New England's Divisional Round victory over the Raiders at a snowy Foxboro Stadium -- one from 45 yards out -- were iconic appetizers for the main course that came two weeks later, when Vinatieri secured the Patriots' first-ever title with a buzzer-beating 48-yard field goal to vanquish the Rams. Two years later, the kicker's 41-yard boot to beat the Panthers gave New England its second Lombardi in three seasons. Vinatieri played in and won one more Super Bowl with the Pats before jumping to the rival Colts in 2006, where he immediately won a fourth title. Postseason heroics aside, Vinatieri is also the most prolific kicker in Patriots, Colts and league history. He holds all-time marks in career points (2,673), career field goals made (599) and consecutive field goals made (44). A shoo-in member of the NFL 100 All-Time Team and the All-2000s Team, Vinatieri is now slated for the most permanent honor there is in the sport.
Roger Craig
It's only fitting that Craig, a three-time Super Bowl champion with the Joe Montana-era 49ers, is heading to the Hall of Fame with a nationally broadcast celebration from San Francisco. Craig, now 65 years old, is the lone senior, coach or contributor finalist to earn a gold jacket this year, and what a deserved honor it is for one of the NFL's pioneering dual-threat RBs. A second-round pick in 1983 out of Nebraska, Craig totaled at least 1,000 yards from scrimmage in each of his first seven seasons, cracking 2,000 twice. His 1988 campaign is an all-timer: Craig led the league with 2,036 yards en route to first-team All-Pro and Offensive Player of the Year honors.The Niners great is one of only three players in NFL history to record 1,000 yards rushing and receiving in the same season (1985), alongside Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk and current S.F. star Christian McCaffrey. Craig was as clutch in the playoffs as he was productive in the regular season. The playmaker scored three touchdowns in his first Super Bowl in just his second season; tallied over 100 receiving yards in the 49ers' nail-biter over the Bengals in Super Bowl XXIII, including 29 on the iconic game-winning drive; and then capped off San Francisco's blowout of Denver the following year with a rushing score. Craig wrapped up his career with three seasons with the Raiders and Vikings, making two quick postseason exits in Minnesota before retiring. Already a member of the All-1980s Team, Craig now joins fellow 49ers Montana, Jerry Rice, Bill Walsh and others in golden eternity in Canton.
The five-person Class of '26 is the second-smallest to be inducted in the last 20 years. The 2025 class featured just four inductees, the fewest since 2005 when Dan Marino, Steve Young, Benny Friedman and Fritz Pollard were called to the Hall. A four-member class is now the smallest allowed under the Hall's current bylaws.
The selection committee may elect up to five modern-era players for the Class of 2026; each must receive a minimum positive vote of 80% for election. Just four were selected this year.
Craig was the lone man from the five contributor, coach and senior finalists to be elected. Voting on these finalists is done separately as its own group distinct from the modern-era players; a minimum of one person and a maximum of three from these combined categories may be elected under the Hall's recently revised bylaws.