Buccaneers likely for Hard Knocks, per report

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers may be the subject of the next iteration of Hard Knocks.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have seemingly emerged as the front-runner to land the Hard Knocks gig this year. The Bucs were one of the eight teams that could not avoid mandatory inclusion in the Hard Knocks pool of eligible teams.  Teams that have appeared on the show in the past 10 years, and/or have a new head coach in place, and/or have had a playoff berth in the past two seasons can avoid mandatory inclusion in this pool.

HBO Sports, NFL Media and NFL Films reached a long-term extension last year prior to the franchise’s 11th season which followed the newly-relocated Los Angeles Rams.

Hard Knocks often brings publicity. Some around the league feel that being selected to participate in the television documentary is more of curse than a win. For the Buccaneers, however, this could be an exciting scenario. They have a young team on the rise that is led by franchise quarterback Jameis Winston.

The show could potentially bring new fans and thrust this youthful and exciting team into the spotlight. The NFL is clearly looking for a better prospect than last season’s subject: the Rams.

Winston is excited by the prospect of appearing on the show, but notes that their job is “to play football” and that NFL Films and HBO can “add all of the glitz and glamour.”

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Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht is also seemingly excited about the idea of his team appearing on Hard Knocks. He’ll get the opportunity to showcase the team he has built, which went 9-7 last year.