Former New Orleans Saints standouts Drew Brees and Jahri Evans have reached the semifinalist stage for possible election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026.

A pair of New Orleans natives — former Isidore Newman School star Eli Manning and former John Ehret High School standout Reggie Wayne — also are among the 26 semifinalists announced by Hall officials on Tuesday.

Brees is one of five first-year-eligible players to make the list, joining Larry Fitzgerald, Frank Gore, Philip Rivers and Jason Witten.

Among the semifinalists, Willie Anderson, Tory Holt, Luke Kuechly and Adam Vinatieri will advance automatically to the finalist stage since they finished in the top seven of voting for election a year ago and two players. Lomas Brown and Kevin Williams are semifinalists for th

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