Which Current Bears Could Make The Hall Of Fame One Day?

Yesterday provided a stunning reminder that the 2026 Hall-of-Fame class is about to be unveiled as Bill Belichick, the greatest coach of all time, missed out on his deserved first-ballot status. For reasons that clearly have nothing to do with his performance, Belichick will not be among this year’s inductees, which will be announced on February 5.

Beyond that, we’ll see if any of the modern-era Bears candidates this year, headlined by Charles Tillman, Olin Kreutz, and Lance Briggs, can add to the Bears’ league-leading 39 Hall-of-Famers so far.

But how’s this for a question: what Chicago Bears currently on the roster might one day end up with a gold jacket?

I can think of one already: Joe Thuney.

Sure, Thuney has earned the bulk of his awards and trophies with Belichick and the New England Patriots and the Kansas City Chiefs. But he also jumped right in with the Bears and earned First-Team All-Pro honors for the third straight season. Combine that with his four Pro Bowls and four Super Bowl titles, and he’s cemented himself as one of the league’s greatest interior offensive linemen ever. He probably won’t go into the Hall with a Bears jersey on, but that hardly matters. He’s one of us right now, and hopefully will be until he retires.

This year might have introduced a few new possibilities into the chat for the Bears, too.

Safety Kevin Byard, led the NFL in interceptions this year, also got his third First Team All-Pro and Pro Bowl nods this season, putting him in the conversation as one of the best safeties of his generation. While he’s a bit more of a fringe candidate at this point, a few more strong seasons—and some championship hardware—could put him in contention. With as durable as Byard has been, he has a chance to play long enough to get real Hall-of-Fame buzz by the time his season is over.

After that, no other veterans strongly stand out in the immediate. Drew Dalman might have a shot later if he can rack up some more honors. Jaylon Johnson has two Pro Bowls and a Second-Team All-Pro, but his health and lack of elite production (only eight career interceptions) will keep him down in that discussion. DJ Moore looked like he might be on track after a big start to his career, but this last season with the Bears hasn’t helped any future case he might have. He also (through no fault of his own) hasn’t played on many winning teams, so he needs that for his resume.

Then, there are the young guns who are just getting started.

For example: Colston Loveland. His electric start to his career, especially in the playoffs, could see him end up in that George Kittle/Travis Kelce/Jimmy Graham tier when it’s all said and done, as long as he stays healthy.

Darnell Wright could be a sleeper if he keeps stringing All-Pro-level seasons together at right tackle, having firmly established himself as a truly intimidating force as a run-blocker and brick wall in the pass game.

Then, of course, you have Caleb Williams, who has arguably put up the best two-season stretch a Chicago Bears quarterback has had since Sid Luckman and proven himself a monster in clutch time. If he stays healthy and in Chicago, he will almost certainly hold every major franchise record this team has by the time he reaches his eighth season. If he adds even one Super Bowl title to the statistical ledger he’s going to put up, you can start fitting him for that gold jacket immediately.

For now, though, let’s root on the Bears still in the running for this year’s class and hope they don’t get the same treatment as Belichick.

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