The Cowboys may still be sorting out the long view, but when you zoom out, the roster already has a few names that could one day end up in Canton. Dallas won seven games last year despite fielding the worst defense in the NFL, and with Christian Parker taking over as defensive coordinator, the hope is that unit can climb at least to average. Pair that with a top-10 offense, and the franchise has a real chance to stay in the mix in 2026.
That same roster also includes a handful of players whose careers are already building a Hall of Fame case. Some are obvious.
Some need a lot more to go right. Here’s how they stack up.
CeeDee Lamb sits at the top of the list, and it’s not hard to see why. He’s only 27, already entering year seven, and has piled up five Pro Bowls and one first-team All-Pro selection.
He’s also been a second-team All-Pro twice, and through 95 regular-season games he has 7,416 receiving yards. At his current pace of 1,327 yards over a 17-game season, Lamb would be sitting on 11,397 yards before he turns 30 if he keeps rolling for three more years.
That kind of production matters because the Hall has historically rewarded wide receivers who keep stacking numbers. There are 12 receivers with at least 14,000 career receiving yards, and 10 of them are in the Hall of Fame.
The only two who aren’t are Steve Smith Sr and Reggie Wayne. Lamb already has a résumé that stacks up well against those names, and if he keeps adding Pro Bowls and All-Pros, the path only gets clearer.
As long as Dak Prescott is still in Dallas and playing well, Lamb should keep piling up the totals that make this case stronger.
Tyler Smith is next, and the age is the big reason. He’s only heading into his age-25 season, already has three Pro Bowls, and is one of the best young linemen in football.
Offensive linemen have a longer runway than most positions, especially the elite ones, and Smith has the kind of profile that could age beautifully. He’s made the Pro Bowl three straight years, and if that trend keeps up, another decade of high-end play is not out of the question.
The fact that he can line up at both guard and tackle only helps.
Dak Prescott comes in at No. 3.
He’s a four-time Pro Bowler and about to play his age-33 season, but his game has always been built on winning from the pocket, which gives him a chance to hold up well into his 30s. Prescott already has 35,989 passing yards and 243 touchdown passes, good for 32nd and 33rd all-time.
That alone doesn’t guarantee anything, but the Hall of Fame has room for quarterbacks with similar or even lesser production.
If Prescott keeps collecting yards and touchdowns and adds a few more Pro Bowls, he can stay in the conversation even without a Super Bowl. Hitting 50,000 passing yards would sharpen the case considerably.
Of the 12 quarterbacks who have reached that mark, five are in the Hall of Fame, and the rest are Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Matthew Stafford, Ben Roethlisberger, Philip Rivers, Matt Ryan, and Eli Manning. The source notes that Brady, Rodgers, Stafford, and Roethlisberger should all get in, which would make Prescott’s climb to 50,000 especially meaningful.
Brandon Aubrey lands at No. 4, and he’s already building a rare kind of résumé for a kicker. He’s a three-time Pro Bowler and one-time All-Pro, has made 88.2% of his career field goals, and owns a long of 65.
That kind of leg strength already puts him in elite territory. The challenge is the Hall’s history: only three pure kickers are in Canton.
Aubrey’s path is straightforward, though not easy - keep doing this for another decade-plus, stay consistent, and remain one of the best in the league well into his 30s. He started his career late in his 20s, so the clock is different for him than for most players, but the standard is still brutally high.
George Pickens rounds out the list. His first season in Dallas in 2025 was a big one: Pro Bowl, second-team All-Pro, 93 catches, 1,429 yards, and nine touchdowns, all team highs by a wide margin.
Even with that start, the Hall of Fame remains a long shot. That’s the whole point of the Hall - it’s supposed to be hard.
But if Dallas keeps him on a long-term deal and he repeats that kind of season three to five more times, the conversation would at least begin. He already has 4,270 receiving yards across his first four seasons, which gives him a real shot at 10,000 career yards.
For now, though, he still needs more individual honors and some team success in Dallas to move from promising to plausible.
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