Five reasons the 2021 Pro Football Hall of Fame class could be the greatest of all time

The NFL lost a lot of great talent this offseason, and the league's losses could be the Pro Football Hall of Fame's gain.

In sports, we always see new talent come into the league while the greats we rooted for and loved inevitably meet Father Time and have to exit. This past offseason, we saw an exodus of all-time great players who retired this year, and in five years, we're likely to see them in Canton in five years. 

Here are five players who just may represent the greatest Pro Football Hall of Fame class ever to be enshrined come 2021.

Peyton Manning

Manning is a surefire first-ballot Hall of Famer. He won five MVP awards, two Super Bowls, is the all-time passing touchdown and yardage leader, and is the kind of guy that Halls of Fame want in their shrines. Manning will be the headliner in 2021 as one of the most decorated quarterbacks the NFL has ever seen. 

Charles Woodson

Woodson was one of the elite defensive backs for a long time. He was a Super Bowl champion with the Packers, had 65 interceptions (fifth all time), made nine Pro Bowls, was four times on the All-Pro First Team and was named the 2009 Defensive Player of the Year. I know college ball doesn't count in this, but he is still the only true defensive player to win the Heisman Trophy as well.

Calvin Johnson

Megatron was everything you ever wanted in a receiver. A six-time Pro Bowler, that record-setting 2012 season and finishing second all-time in receiving yards per game, he simply was a beast. However, Johnson probably won't get into the Hall in '21. Jerry Rice was the last receiver to get in on his first try, and that's because he's Jerry Rice, the greatest receiver who ever lived.

Wide receivers wait, and it wasn't like Johnson had an all-time great career. Terrell Owens, who may be a bit of a pill, has the stats to be a first-ballot HOFer but will most likely keep waiting for the call. Megatron will have to as well given his early retirement, but he probably gets in in due time.

Jared Allen

Allen most likely won't be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Just look how long Kevin Greene had to wait to get in (11 years on the ballot). Still, Allen should get there eventually. He was a sack machine with the Chiefs and Vikings and was one of the scariest defensive players of his time. He also is 10th in sacks on the all-time list, made five Pro Bowls and was a First-Team All-Pro four times.

If he can make Hall of Fame speeches as well as he can make retirement videos, he needs to be in.