Saints’ Brees, Evans named 2026 Hall of Fame Finalists

By Ross Jackson

The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced its 15 modern-era player finalists for 2026 and among them are a pair of New Orleans Saints greats.

Congrats to @DrewBrees and @J_7TRE_E – one step closer to the @ProFootballHOF! pic.twitter.com/zMll6gDnwV

— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) December 30, 2025

Former quarterback Drew Brees and former offensive lineman and current assistant offensive line coach Jahri Evans were both among the names selected to go into the final stages of the Hall of Fame process.

Brees, inarguably the greatest player in the franchise’s history, is up as a first-ballot option. He’s a Super Bowl champion, multi-time Offensive Player of the Year and still owns several NFL passing records including most 5,000 yard passing seasons by a quarterback all-time. Brees has won just about every accolade there is to be won by an NFL quarterback and now stands on the precipice of receiving his gold jacket immediately after becoming eligible to be named to the Hall.

The former Purdue Boilermaker joined New Orleans as a free agent in 2006 and immediately turned the franchise around along with former head coach Sean Payton and running back Reggie Bush, all of which represented new hope for a natural disaster-stricken community and organization. He helped to bring the Lombardi Trophy to New Orleans in just three years’ time.

Evans, also a Super Bowl champion, was a four-time First-Team All-Pro during his playing career and was named to the 2010’s All-Decade team. The dominant offensive linemen holds the reputation as the best guard in Saints’ history and one of the best guards to ever take the field in the NFL. He has been a finalist in the last three classes now with appearances among the group in 2024 and 2025 before this one.

As a small-school standout out of Bloomsburg University, Evans joined the Saints as a fourth-round draft pick and appeared in 169 of his 183 career games with New Orleans. He has been on the Saints’ coaching staff since 2022 when he began as a training camp intern.

Out of 128 possible modern-era players, two of the greatest Saints players to ever grace the field could see their names added to a long-list of NFL excellence soon. 

Among the other finalists include more Louisiana ties. Defensive tackle Kyle Williams had a brief 2015 stint in New Orleans while quarterback Eli Manning and wide receiver Reggie Wayne are each from the city.

The Hall of Fame inductees will be announced on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026 during NFL Honors. On the same day, Saints rookie quarterback Tyler Shough could potentially also receive the Offensive Rookie of the Year award, for which he is currently among the favorites to win.