Who's Next?

Now that the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction has passed, it's time to start looking at the ballot for 2027 and beyond.  Because the next few Pro Football Hall of Fame ballots will be loaded, and they'll generate just as much conversation about who doesn't get in as who does.  I'm also expecting to see some changes to the voting system after the controversy surrounding Bill Belichick's somehow not getting the required number of votes this year despite being considered an obvious first-ballot lock. 

Regardless of what happens with the Coach/Contributor/Senior category, though, I don't see the Modern Era selection process being much different.  They'll still have the five finalists.  My guess is that if anything changes, it may simply be going back to the old method of a "yes/no" vote once they get down to five (right now, they cut it down to eight and voters select five of the eight, with whoever gets 80 percent making it).  Or, they very well might keep it the same as the process for the last two years (changes that came about because Hall of Famers like Deion Sanders were complaining that it was "too easy" to get in), despite the fact that only seven Modern Era players have been elected over the past two cycles.

The changes made for the 2025 election cycle, quite frankly, are a big part of the problem.  A backlog already existed.  And it was only made worse by the fact that the Modern Era classes are no longer guaranteed to be five players every year.  Throw in the fact that there are some first-ballot locks coming up the pipeline, and you've got some deserving players who are gonna have to wait a while (if they haven't already) before they finally get the knock and gold jacket.

Those two factors make it virtually impossible to predict who'll be in upcoming Pro Football Hall of Fame classes.  Even if they definitely did five every year, it would be difficult to project future classes.  Throw in the fact that you'll have a lot of guys who played the same position (Ben Roethlisberger/Eli Manning/Tom Brady/Aaron Rodgers, Rob Gronkowski/Jason Witten/Travis Kelce, Frank Gore/Adrian Peterson, about 10 wide receivers, etc.) and it becomes an even harder challenge.  But is that gonna stop me?  Of course not!

One important thing to keep in mind for the sake of this exercise is that I'm "putting in" the maximum five every year.  That just makes it easier than trying to determine whether they'll do three, four or five in a given year.  It's also just more practical since there will be more than five deserving candidates each time.  And the longer you keep pushing them back, the bigger the logjam becomes.  With that in mind, let's get this thing going...

2027: Terrell Suggs, Jason Witten, Frank Gore, Ben Roethlisberger, Marshal Yanda-Next year could be a good one for a pair of Baltimore Ravens who made the final cut this year but weren't selected.  Suggs I think is a virtual lock for next year's class.  Of the first-time eligible candidates, Roethlisberger may be the only one to get in.  Not that Rob Gronkowski and Adrian Peterson don't have strong cases.  There just happens to be another tight end and another running back who had to wait a year and deserve to get in first.

2028: Tom Brady, J.J. Watt, Rob Gronkowski, Torry Holt, Andrew Whitworth-Two spots in the Class of 2028 are already taken.  That will be true regardless of who makes it in 2027.  There's no chance Tom Brady and J.J. Watt don't both make it in on the first ballot.  It could actually be a very Patriot Summer in Canton if they do indeed make Gronk wait a year, especially if it takes until 2028 for Belichick and/or Kraft to get in, too.

2029: Adrian Peterson, Richard Sherman, Willie Anderson, Reggie Wayne, Eli Manning-Some of the backlog can finally start being cleared out once the obvious big names are in.  So, 2029 could be when they do some of that housekeeping.  This is assuming Aaron Donald does, in fact, come out of retirement and return to the Rams this season, which seems like a virtual certainty at this point.  Should Donald stay retired, his Hall of Fame clock doesn't reset and he becomes eligible in 2029, when he takes a spot from one of these guys.

2030: Steve Smith Sr., Jahri Evans, Rodney Harrison, Robert Mathis, Jason Kelce-Jason Kelce becomes eligible in 2029, so I have him waiting a year.  It wouldn't completely surprise me if he gets in on the first ballot, though.  And Kelce will start another wave of first- and second-year-eligible candidates getting in.  Who'll follow him on that first-ballot track, of course, will depend on when players like his brother and Von Miller decide to hang it up.  But, since Jason Kelce's already retired and has shown absolutely no interest in unretiring, he's a safe bet to make it in 2029 or 2030.

2031: Jason Peters, Earl Thomas, Fred Taylor, Antonio Brown, Philip Rivers-This one comes with a big asterisk since it would require Philip Rivers not randomly coming out of retirement for a second time.  Assuming this one sticks, he once again becomes Hall of Fame eligible in 2031.  So, barring another Rivers return, he'll headline this class.  Had he not played those three games for the Colts last season, his induction would've come much earlier.  He wouldn't have gotten in this year, but it does seem possible he would've gotten in before Brady.

While I'm only going thru 2031, there are two names who loom large in 2032.  That's when anyone who retires after this season will become eligible.  Aaron Rodgers has already announced this is his final season.  It seems likely that this season will be Travis Kelce's last, as well.  Those two should both be first-ballot locks in 2032.  I wouldn't count out Calais Campbell being a first-ballot choice in that class, either.  Although, I won't believe that Calais Campbell is retired until I actually see it (and even then, I might wonder when he's coming back).

Should Aaron Donald come back this season, win another home Super Bowl, then immediately retire again, he'd also be eligible for that 2032 class.  So, regardless, there will be some heavy hitters that year just among first-timers.  And that doesn't include players like Eric Weddle, Ndamukong Suh, Bobby Wagner, and others who'll become Hall of Fame eligible between now and then and may or may not be in yet by 2032.

Other Hall of Fame-caliber players who are nearing retirement include Von Miller, Khalil Mack, Matthew Stafford, T.J. Watt and Joey Bosa.  Then the likes of Joe Flacco and DeAndre Hopkins enter the mix.  I'm not saying they'll all get in.  But they'll all be in the conversation once they become eligible.  And that's saying nothing of the candidates who are already eligible and will continue to be until they exhaust their 15 years and get pushed to the Senior Committee ballot.

There are plenty of deserving names who'll be on those Senior Committee ballots, as well.  And the Senior Committee has produced a grand total of two Hall of Famers in the two years since the voting process changed (Sterling Sharpe in 2025, Roger Craig in 2026).  Combine that fact with the names who are eligible on the Modern Era ballot, as well as the coaches and contributors, and you'll have some loaded Pro Football Hall of Fame classes in the coming years.  No matter how large those classes are.