Barber and Lynch were among the 102 initial nominees for the next group of inductees into the Hall, and both remain on the list after voters pared that list down to 25 on Tuesday. Barber is in his second year of eligibility and was also a semifinalist last year. Lynch has now been a semifinalist for seven straight years, and last year was the fifth time that he also advanced to the finalist stage.

In January, this year's 25 finalists will be reduced to 15 finalists, from which a class of up to five modern-era candidates will be chosen for induction into the Hall on the eve of the Super Bowl. Barber and Lynch hope to join former teammates Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks in Canton, Ohio, where the Hall of Fame is located. Sapp and Brooks were inducted in 2013 and 2014, respectively, joining former Buccaneers defensive end Lee Roy Selmon, who was elected to the Hall in 1995. Tony Dungy, who was Tampa Bay's head coach from 1996 to 2001, was also inducted into the Hall in 2016.

Barber and Lynch were teammates on the 2002 Buccaneers team that defeated the Oakland Raiders, 48-21, in Super Bowl XXXVII. That marked the pinnacle of a Tampa Bay defense that was dominant for the better part of a decade and is considered one of the best in NFL history. Barber and Lynch were teammates from 1997-2003; in 2002, the Buccaneers' top-ranked pass defense picked off 31 passes while allowing only 10 touchdown passes and a combined opponent quarterback rating of 48.4.