There’s arguably no NFL team that’s more interesting heading into the 2023 offseason than the Chicago Bears, a sentiment shared by a number of non-Bears fans.
Not only do they have the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft, they also have the most salary cap space ($118 million), which is nearly double the next team. Oh, and they have a star in quarterback Justin Fields, who turned heads in his second year.
Which makes the Bears the prime candidate to be on HBO’s Hard Knocks in August 2023.
While Chicago has notably turned it down in the past, teams can now be forced into it.
The criteria for Hard Knocks is simple: 1) You’d have to miss the playoffs for the past two seasons; 2) You can’t have a first-year head coach; and 3) You can’t have hosted Hark Knocks in the past decade.
There are only four teams that meet all of those qualifications: the Chicago Bears, New Orleans Saints, New York Jets and Washington Commanders
There are 4 teams eligible to host Hard Knocks in August 2023:
Chicago Bears
New Orleans Saints
New York Jets
Washington Commanders
— Rob (@NerdingOnNFL) January 11, 2023
Looking at those four options, the Bears are the clear-cut favorite to be chosen for the docu-series this year. And it’s something fans would love, considering the organization has been pretty tight-lipped about behind-the-scenes happenings. (Although, they did debut a behind-the-scenes series, 1920 Football Drive, a couple of years ago).
When To be clear: Any NFL team can volunteer to do Hard Knocks (which the Los Angeles Chargers and Rams did in 2020). But it doesn’t typically happen. So there’s a good chance that we’ll see the Bears as the focus this year.
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