How the Jets could be forced into ‘Hard Knocks’ next season

The Dallas Cowboys will return to HBO’s ‘Hard Knocks’ this summer, but could the New York Jets make their way back this time next year?

Soprano, Powers, Meyer, Little … Prescott?

The Dallas Cowboys announced on Friday that they would partake in the latest season of Hard Knocks, HBO’s reality documentary series centered on a certain team’s NFL training camp.

This marks the 16th season of the joint effort with NFL Films and Dallas’ record third appearance (previously showing in 2002 and 2008). Acclaimed actor Liev Schreiber will once again serve as the narrator.

Get ready to step into our 🌎!

Get all the details for #HardKnocks: The #DallasCowboys here ➡️ https://t.co/n88I7mxZCp. pic.twitter.com/J11q0Kmn9K

— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) July 2, 2021

Though the return to Dallas camp should have no shortage of storylines—including the return of newly-minted $160 million quarterback Dak Prescott and the arrival of touted first-round pick Micah Parsons—many have wondered when the New York Jets will get another shot.

HBO’s visit to Cortland, NY in 2010 remains one of the most popular iterations of the series, immortalized by severe memorable storylines (Darrelle Revis‘ holdout, Danny Woodhead’s ultimately futile quest to make the team) and soundbites from head coach Rex Ryan (“Let’s go eat a g*ddamn snack!!”).

With the Jets earning a considerable amount of hype after an eventful offseason, some have petitioned for the program to make its first visit to 1 Jets Drive in Florham Park, NJ.

As the show’s popularity has increased, many teams have reluctant to open their doors to HBO. To that end, the NFL has established criteria where, if there are no volunteers, teams from a shortlist can be forced to appear.

Under these rules, any team that has not hired a new head coach, has not appeared in the postseason in the prior two seasons, and has not appeared on the program in the last decade are eligible for the mandatory camera time.

Since the Jets hired Robert Saleh as their new head coach, they were not on the shortlist this time around. Dallas was a part of that latest group along with the New York Giants, Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos.

If the Jets miss the playoffs for the 11th consecutive season, they will return to the shortlist. Others that could rejoin the list with a missed playoff berth include the Atlanta Falcons, Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars.

The latest season of Hard Knocks will premier on Aug. 10 on HBO and HBO Max.

(CORRECTION: The Los Angeles Chargers were erroneously listed as being eligible for being forced onto the program next season. They appeared on last year’s edition with the Los Angeles Rams and are thus not eligible.)

Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags