The five years needed from retirement to eligibility will pass for these all-time great NFL players, who range from an all-time wide receiver in Arizona Cardinals legend Larry Fitzgerald to Super Bowl-winning New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees. There are some possible first-time ballot Hall of Famers on this list on both sides of the ball.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame will welcome a new class of gridiron titans within its walls in 2025. The process by which the fearsome quintet of Canton-bound icons will come to be is lined with potholes.

Normally each year we get five inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, so when Rich Eisen listed four players and then there felt like a pregnant pause during the NFL Honors show on Thursday night,