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Minnesota Vikings robbed of chance to be featured by the NFL, but it could be a signal for something bigger

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Tyler Forness | Last updated Mar 31, 2026 1:39 AM ET

The Minnesota Vikings are one of the more fascinating team in the NFL. Not only have they won 43 games in the last three seasons, but they are also about to have the highest-profile quarterback competition this offseason.

Training camp is going to be a fascinating event at TCO Performance Center with Kyler Murray battling for the starting job with J.J. McCarthy and Carson Wentz . Not only that, but the personalities of Kevin O'Connell and Brian Flores would be great television.

Minnesota Vikings passed over for Hard Knocks

During the NFL's Owners Meetings, the league announced who is going to be on Hard Knocks: Training Camp edition, and they passed over the Vikings once again, choosing to have the Seattle Seahawks in 2026 and the New England Patriots in 2027.

Announced tonight in a general session at the NFL Annual Meeting, per sources:

— Season 3 of “Quarterback” on Netflix returns in July

— 2026 Hard Knocks (Training Camp) on HBO: #Seahawks

— 2027 Hard Knocks (Training Camp) on HBO: #Patriots pic.twitter.com/WaOMCZFBpF
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 31, 2026

Considering the 2026 in season division is the NFC East, and 2027 is likely from the AFC, the Vikings continue to be ignored by Hard Knocks. They had all the storylines in the world handed to the league and were told no. Now, doing so for the two teams that played in the Super Bowl this past February does make a lot of sense.

Here's where things get interesting. The third season of quarterback is coming out this summer, and the participants haven't been announced yet. Could McCarthy be a part of that with his first season as a starter? Of course it would be entertaining, but it's possible that nobody wanted anything to do with that.

Things will be interesting with Hard Knocks this year, but it won't be as interesting as it could have been.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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