Saints looking likely to be featured on HBO's Hard Knocks

The New Orleans Saints may be in front of a national audience before games even start, with great potential for added attention coming the Saints way.

Whether you're a fan or not, HBO's Hard Knocks has become something of a cultural staple in recent years, at least among football fans, as it's the perfect way for excitement for the upcoming NFL season for those folks. The New Orleans Saints have never been the subject of the show, and that includes the training camp and new in-season editions. That may change for Saints fans shortly though.

The Saints have been officially named as one of the four finalists to be featured on the 2023 training camp edition of Hard Knocks. They are joined by the Chicago Bears, New York Jets, and Washington Commanders.

The teams that have been exempt are the ones that have a first-year head coach, made the playoffs in either of the last two seasons, and have appeared on the show in the last decade. Check, check, and check. Out of the four teams eligible though, the Saints look like they may have the best shot, at least after the initial announcement.

The Bears have already made it as clear as they can that they have no desire, which makes sense given that this is a pivotal offseason for them, and they've always been more "old school." The Jets have had some players tweet and publicly state their wishes of not being featured, so that leaves Washington and the Saints.

Now, it's no secret that the Commanders franchise has A LOT of things on their plate, a lot of which not exactly pertaining to the on-field product, not that the on-field product is anything to scream about either. As such, it would be understandable that the NFL would prefer if HBO steers clear of that tornado of terrible.

So where does that leave us? Well, when you add all the ingredients to the pot of Gumbo, it looks like the New Orleans Saints may be the focus of Hard Knocks after all. That would mean that a national audience would get to see how Derek Carr is gelling with the franchise in real time along with a local. Whether or not that would be greeted positively is a completely different, story. We're just connecting some dots here. Hey, at least it's something extra to talk about leading up to the Draft if nothing else.