The Greatest Generation of Packers Ever: Next Wave of Stars Guaranteed to Dominate the Hall of Fame
The Green Bay Packers are represented heavily in the NFL’s Hall of Fame, and this group grew by one member this week, as WR Sterling Sharpe FINALLY received the ultimate honor after over 20 years of waiting. Jon Meerdink took a look at some other “old-time” Packers who deserve some HOF consideration, and I’m here to take a look at the new-age, baby! There’s a small list of Packers from the last couple of decades who have been brought up in conversation as possibly being the next guys to represent Green Bay in the HOF. Let’s take a look at their cases.
QB Aaron Rodgers
This one is a no-brainer. He’ll make it (um, he should make it) in his first year of eligibility, whenever that time comes. Regarded as one of the greatest to ever throw a football, Aaron Rodgers took the reins from Brett Favre relatively flawlessly. In his third year as a starting QB, he led the Packers to their first Super Bowl win in 14 years. In 15 seasons with Rodgers at the helm, the Packers saw 11 playoff berths, 5 conference championship appearances, and were consistently regarded as one of the top teams in the entire league. With Rodgers at QB, the Packers were always a threat (except that last year, huh). As his regular-season stats stand in February 2025, Rodgers has 62,952 passing yards (7th all-time), 503 passing TDs (5th all-time), and just a 1.4% INT rate (best all-time). A shoo-in!
WR Davante Adams
I know that others feel a bit differently than I do on this one, but I think Davante Adams is another shoe-in. With an up-and-down start to his career, Adams broke out in 2016 with a 997-yard season. He had his consensus “oh, this guy is GOOD” moment in 2017, when Brett Hundley took over at QB after Aaron Rodgers suffered a broken collarbone. In 8 games catching passes from Hundley, Adams still had 543 receiving yards and 5 TDs with a 64.8% catch rate. Reminder: Brett Hundley has 9 career TD passes.
Today, Davante Adams is one of 12 players ever to have 100+ receiving TDs. Of these 12 men, there are just 3 who are not members of the HOF, and it’s because none of them are eligible yet: Larry Fitzgerald, Mike Evans, and Davante Adams. He’s in good company. As it stands now, Adams has 957 career catches (20th all-time), 11,844 yards (33rd all-time), and 103 TDs (10th all-time). I know the WR backlog for the HOF is a little intense, but it’s going to be hard to look at Adams on the ballot and say no.
LT David Bakhtiari
We’ve officially hit the “maybe” portion of the list. In his rookie season, Bakhtiari was baptized by fire after Bryan Bulaga tore his ACL, and he ended up being so good he just…stayed there. A beloved Packer for 11 seasons, Bakhtiari was voted First-Team All-Pro twice, Second-Team All-Pro three times, and had three Pro Bowl appearances.
On New Year’s Eve in 2020, when the Packers were preparing for a playoff berth as the #1 seed in the NFC, Bakhtiari suffered an absolutely devastating ACL tear, and has not been the same player since. It took literal years for him to even begin to look like himself again on the field, and by then, it was apparent the Packers were going to move on. As of today, 33-year-old Bakhtiari has not joined a new team, nor has he retired. He was on a HOF trajectory, but the injury may have taken him out of the running for induction, at least for a long time.
K Mason Crosby
Folks, we’re at the “long shot” portion of the list. With the news this week that Adam Vinatieri, arguably the greatest kicker of all time, would not be making the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, the list of kickers in the HOF remains at just five. It just does not happen. Newly-retired Mason Crosby was a Packer for 16 seasons, and became the team’s all-time leading scorer in that span, with 1,918 points. There were moments it seemed like the Packers would cut him the next day, but he persevered and became the greatest kicker in the history of the team. He’s now 11th on the NFL’s list of all-time leading scorers. However: it does. not. happen. It’s okay, though. Crosby is in the Hall of Fame of my heart.
S Nick Collins
Another player who was well on his way, before suffering a devastating injury: my personal favorite Packer of all time, Nick Collins. A 3x Pro Bowler, 3x Second-Team All-Pro, and Super Bowl XLV hero, Collins, unfortunately, falls into the camp of “Didn’t Play Long Enough”. Early in the 2011 season, while making a tackle, Collins suffered a neck injury that was severe enough to require surgery, knocking him out for the season. In April 2012, the team released Collins at the age of 28 after it became clear that continuing to play football would be too dangerous, and he never played another down in the NFL. In 2014, Collins officially announced his retirement. In his seven seasons as a Packer, Collins had 421 tackles, 6 forced fumbles, 21 interceptions, and 5 defensive TDs. What a guy.
WR Donald Driver
One of the most beloved Packers of all time, Donald Driver’s name comes up quite a bit when the initial list of eligible players is released each year. The Packers’ all-time leading receiver in yards with 10,137, Driver ended up being a favorite target for both Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers over the course of his career. However, he ended up being in the league at the same time as guys like Torry Holt, Terrell Owens, Randy Moss, Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, Cris Carter, and some guy named Jerry Rice. I tend to think of the late 90s and early 2000s as a bit of a golden age for wide receivers, and unfortunately, Driver is lost among the shuffle. He’s one of the greatest Packers of all time, one of the greatest 7th-round picks of all time, but he probably won’t see the Hall of Fame.
