NFL Films blames suspension of offseason Hard Knocks on social media

In 2024, offseason Hard Knocks succeeded because it failed. And that kept it from returning in 2025.

Basically, the Giants did a bad job of exercising their right to edit the episodes. Which made them far more compelling and raw and ultimately honest.

“One of the best, and most interesting, and most surprising shows we’ve ever made,” NFL Films V.P./head of content Keith Cossrow said on the SBJ Sports Media Podcast, via Ben Fischer of Sports Business Journal.

But Cossrow blamed the decision of other teams to not touch the series with a 10-foot pole not on the Giants’ embrace of the Saquon Barkley drama but in social media’s reaction to it.

“When that one or two clips about Saquon got removed and isolated and blew up on social media, and as we’ve seen, have taken on a life of their own, that certainly gives people pause in the NFL and in every other walk of life about doing these sorts of shows,” Cossrow said. “It’s funny, we all want to go viral, right? Not for the wrong reasons, but it’s a measure of success in the world we live in today. But it can also go in directions that nobody can predict.”

Sorry, but it wasn’t social media. It was the editing of the episodes, and the inclusion of so much discussion about the handling of Barkley.

Cossrow says NFL Films hasn’t abandoned the idea of doing it again. But it will require much greater care in the editing of the clips.

Basically, the reality show was too real. Teams want infomercials. Which is exactly why, quite frankly this season’s preseason Hard Knocks with the Buffalo Bills has been largely worthless — with the grand total of zero viral moments.