Jets will be featured on 'Hard Knocks' this season, despite not wanting it

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It sure seems like no one really wants to be on HBO's 'Hard Knocks' this season, but that doesn't matter; cameras will be descending on New York for an inside look at the Jets and new quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

That was the news reported by ESPN's Adam Schefter Wednesday morning, allowing three other teams, including the Saints, to breathe a sigh of relief. HBO has not yet made an official announcement.

The question of who would be the subject of the annual inside-access program gained interest due to multiple teams, including the Jets and Saints, expressing that they did not want to be on the program. The problem: Someone had to be on it, and those two teams were among the four -- along with the Commanders and Bears -- who qualified to be forced into participation. Any team that has a first-year head coach, has been featured in the past 10 seasons and/or has qualified for the postseason in either of the past two seasons could decline.

The Saints have never been featured on the program. The Jets have back in 2010, outside of the 10-year window that'd have allowed them to decline.

It's no surprise why the Jets were the pick, considering the fascinating arrival of Rodgers in New York after more than a decade with the Green Bay Packers. How he fits in with his new squad will be of high interest around the NFL as he attempts to bring the Jets back to relevance and the postseason for the first time in a decade. They last appeared in the playoffs in that Hard Knocks season of 2010, making it to their second consecutive AFC title game with head coach Rex Ryan and QB Mark Sanchez.

The Saints, meanwhile, offered a similar storyline in a smaller market as they incorporate quarterback Derek Carr after he spent his first nine seasons with the Raiders. Both Carr and new teammate Jamaal Williams have been on the program previously, but said they'd prefer to not be on it if given the choice. Head coach Dennis Allen had also said definitively he'd rather not have the cameras in-house during training camp due to the distractions it could present.

There has been no official air date for this year's program, and a return to the postseason this year would make this conversation moot again in New Orleans for a few more years.

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