Nobody wants anything to do with the offseason edition of Hard Knocks. And after the New York Giants spent weeks embarrassing themselves for all to see, who could blame them?
Don’t just take our word for it; even Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles suggested HBO will struggle to find a willing participant.
“I think that moving forward, they are going to have a hard time finding a team,” Poles said. “There is no show unless there’s access. And you gotta go through all the different scenarios. That’s a lot of internal conversations. And I struggle sometimes with conversations about players. There’s a business side of things. We try to be as transparent as possible. But I don’t know if it needs to get out to everyone.”
And the moments that got out to everyone didn’t exactly paint the Giants in the best light.
That includes New York‘s desire to move on from Daniel Jones, yet they were stuck with him. Letting go of Saquon Barkley should have been a clean break, but instead, owner John Mara turned it into a public pity party, admitting he’d lose sleep over losing his All-Pro running back.
#Giants owner John Mara on Saquon Barkley potentially getting interest from the Eagles and Bears:
“I’ll have a tough time sleeping if Saquon goes to Philadelphia, I’ll tell you that. … He’s the most popular player we have BY FAR.”pic.twitter.com/T0SJDIyHZH
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) July 17, 2024
He lost him to a division rival, and, well, that went about as badly as you’d expect.
So, who’s actually volunteering for this? Awful Announcing’s Ben Koo explored the possibilities, but it’s hard to see any team raising its hand after the Giants turned Hard Knocks into a cautionary tale.
How do you make it work again?
The Rich Eisen Show‘s Chris Brockman has an idea involving a team that was indirectly involved in the first and, so far, only season of Hard Knocks: Offseason.
Enter the Philadelphia Eagles.
“From what I’ve been told, a very, very, very warm place would have to freeze over before a team in the NFL agrees to do an offseason Hard Knocks again,” said Rich Eisen. “This is what I’ve been told from all 32 teams.”
“I still believe in the theory of how they handled it — to explain why you’re doing it,” added NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero. “The results could not have been less favorable, in terms of Saquon not only getting paid but having a record season and winning the Super Bowl. It’s the worst-case outcome. That is outcome-based analysis, and if Saquon got dinged up in Week 2 — And they’ve explained it; they were always going to be subject to this.
“This is beyond anything they could’ve feared. But I still say I don’t have a problem with them doing the show. I thought it was better to explain the thinking behind an unpopular move — and explain the cap and the way you have to think about roster management. I thought it was fantastic. I thought it was very educational. It was just the worst-case outcome you could have.”
How do you prevent that from happening?
Allow Brockman to explain.
“You want to save offseason Hard Knocks? And this would be the ultimate flex,” the on-air Eisen Show producer said. “The Eagles should volunteer to do it and say, ‘This is how it’s done.’ ‘You want to see how an elite front office operates and builds a team — watch us.'”
Great idea, right? It’s probably not going to happen, but it should.
The concept itself isn’t flawed — what happened with the Giants was an execution failure, not an indictment of the idea. NFL fans crave behind-the-scenes access, and when done right, Hard Knocks offers an unfiltered look at how teams operate.
Of course, most teams will continue to see Hard Knocks as a risk rather than an opportunity. But if the right franchise steps up, the offseason edition of Hard Knocks could become what it was meant to be — a fascinating, informative look at the business of football, not a cautionary tale of what not to do.
And that’s why the Eagles are a viable option, especially because they have the confidence, stability and organizational competence to pull it off. And unlike the Giants, Philadelphia wouldn’t turn the show into a PR disaster. Instead, Howie Roseman and Co. could use it to showcase why they’re among the league’s best-run franchises.
Easier said than done, though.
