The Hall of Fame Game is the official return of football each year, and it's matchup is typically swayed by who is being inducted into the Hall that year. With Drew Brees being the headliner of the 2026 class, many New Orleans Saints fans were hoping to see the team play in the game this year. Those hopes have been dashed.
Per Nola.com's Jeff Duncan, the Saints will not be a participant in this year's game. The official participants haven't been announced yet, but his sources say the Saints won't be one of those teams. NewOrleans.Football's Mike Triplett added the game pushing the Saints into three preseason games away from home as a potential reason the Saints were skipped over.
The Saints won't be in the game, but Saints fans will still flock to Canton to see Brees' enshrinement speech. The team playing in the game was always just the cherry on top.
Celebrating Drew Brees with a Saints vs. Chargers Hall of Fame game would have been genius
There wouldn't have been a better way to honor Brees in the Hall of Fame game than to set a matchup between his two former teams. The Saints and Chargers facing off in Canton after Brees' enshrinement would have been a scene out of a movie. It's not often you get a chance like this, but it was an option that made almost too much sense.
The Saints won't be in the game, and the Chargers likely won't participate either. On one hand, it would be strange to have the Chargers be the team picked to represent Brees ahead of his immortalization in Canton. Additionally, the Chargers honored Antonio Gates a year ago. It's unlikely to see them play this game in back to back years.
If Brees won't dictate the Hall of Fame Game matchup, then the Arizona Cardinals and Carolina Panthers are the next logical teams to choose from. Larry Fitzgerald and Luke Kuechly are the next most prominent inductees. It doesn't have to be the Cardinals vs. Panthers, but one of those teams would be a smart call.