Gutierrez: Who should be the next Raider enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame?

CANTON, Ohio – So, who's next?

With apologies to recently-retired professional wrestler/former Falcons defensive tackle Bill Goldberg, his catchphrase now takes on an entirely different meaning for the Raiders and their fans.

Because with Eric Allen inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday and the Raiders recognizing him as their 31st member so enshrined in Canton, a celebratory-if-restless Raider Nation is already looking ahead.

As in…which former Raider should next be fitted for a Gold Jacket and measured for a bronze bust? Who will be No. 32?

Who's next, indeed.

Surely, 31 other NFL teams and their respective fanbases are having the same conversations, grumbling about the levels of disrespect aimed at their favorite franchises and players with so many of their favorites needing a ticket to visit the Hall while polishing up their respective cases.

But when it comes to the Raiders, who have had 10 members gain enshrinement since 2013, it's not a matter of it's about time but, rather, give us more. Now. And don't you dare mention Raider fatigue, either.

As such, I put up an entirely non-scientific poll on X to gauge Raiders fans' thoughts on who should be next?

Not surprisingly, quarterback Jim Plunkett, a longtime fan favorite, jumped out to an early lead and held off cornerback Lester Hayes, a teammate on the Raiders' Super Bowl XV and Super XVIII champions. And if an option reading ALL OF THE ABOVE had been made available, surely that would have won.

But Plunkett, Hayes, guard Steve Wisniewski and punter Shane Lechler are far from the only Raiders players fans are clamoring for to gain induction.

A quick look, then, at who actually might be next when it comes to joining the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Who is your pick?

QB Jim Plunkett

Long a sentimental favorite - hey, the late Al Davis lambasted voters at the 2009 NFL Owners Meetings for not voting Plunkett in back then - Plunkett was long the lone Hall-eligible quarterback with multiple Super Bowl wins not already in Canton…before Eli Manning joined him this year. A former No. 1 overall pick, Rookie of the Year and Comeback Player of the Year as well as Super Bowl XV MVP, Plunkett's career stats - 25,882 passing yards with 164 touchdown passes and 198 interceptions with a career regular-season record of 72-72 - don't necessarily scream Hall of Fame. But they compare favorably to those of Joe Namath. And you cannot truly tell the story of the NFL without telling the story of Plunkett, the first minority/Latino QB to win a Super Bowl whose comeback story would make Lazarus take notice. Plunkett is in the Seniors category.

CB Lester Hayes

Judge has already been a finalist for consideration four times, from 2001 through 2004, but is, along with Plunkett, now in the Seniors category. In 1980, when he was the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year, he had 13 interceptions in the regular season and five more picks in the Raiders' run to a Super Bowl XV victory. The five-time Pro Bowler was also first-team All-Pro once, second-team All-Pro another, had 39 career picks in 10 years and teamed with Mike Haynes, who was enshrined in Canton in 1997, to intimidate opposing offenses with aplomb. Hayes was also named second-team all-1980s by the Hall, though he retired after the 1986 season. Hayes once told me he had a "feeling" he would get a call from Canton in 2025 or 2030.

LG Steve Wisniewski

Wiz, an eight-time Pro Bowler and two-time first-team All-Pro, has twice been a semifinalist for Hall consideration, and more than a decade apart - in 2014 and 2025. The left guard, who was also second-team All-Pro six times, is also the lone guard selected to the all-1990s team not in Canton. A true model of durability and consistency, Wisniewski missed only two games in his 13-year career, one as a rookie in 1989 and another in 1991, and started all 206 games in which he played.

P Shane Lechler

Named to the NFL 100 All-Time Team, along with fellow Raider punter Ray Guy, Lechler was a seven-time Pro Bowler and six-time first-team All-Pro. Lechler, a fifth-round draft pick of the Raiders in 2000, spent 13 of his 18 NFL seasons with the Raiders. And when he retired, he held the league's all-time record at 47.6 yards per punt. Lechler was not only a member of the league's all-2000s team, he was also on its all-2010s team. But keep this in mind: Guy, who was a member of three Super Bowl-winning teams, is thus far the lone pure punter in Canton.

A trio of other Raiders to keep in mind in the Senior category…

TE's Raymond Chester and Todd Christensen and WR Art Powell

Chester, a contemporary of Hall of Famer Dave Casper and a four-time Pro Bowler, had career stats that rivaled Casper's (364 career catches for 5,013 yards and 48 touchdowns, compared to 378-5,216-52) and helped usher in an era of bigger, more physical and athletic tight ends. Christensen, meanwhile, twice led the NFL in receptions, catching 92 passes in 1983 and 95 in 1986. He was a five-time Pro Bowler and a two-time first-team All-Pro who caught 461 passes for 5,872 yards and 41 TDs. Powell, who in 2024 became only the second Seniors finalist for Hall consideration not voted in, was a force in the the AFL, leading the league in receiving yardage twice and in receiving touchdowns (14 in 1960 and 16 in 1963 for the Raiders). The all-time All-AFL selection's 81 TD catches are the second-most in AFL history, and his stances on social issues, especially against segregation of the time, were just as, if not more impactful off the field.