Bears tabbed for ‘Hard Knocks,’ plus Chiefs could bench Harrison Butker for kickoffs and NFC South win totals

Welcome to the Friday edition of the Pick Six newsletter! 

I’m not sure if we skipped half of May, but it’s somehow the final day of the month, which doesn’t seem possible. The fact that the end of May is here means we’re just two months from the start of NFL training camps. And if training camps are almost here, that means the season is almost here. And if the season is almost here, that means summer is already over before it even started. 

I don’t want to think about summer being over, so let’s get to today’s newsletter. We’ve got the Bears on “Hard Knocks,” plus we’ll be taking a look at five teams that should take a major leap forward this year. 

As always, here’s your daily reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter. Actually, you don’t even have to tell all of your friends; just tell one and I’ll be happy. To get them signed up, all you have to do is click here. 

1. Bears tabbed for ‘Hard Knocks’ this year: Four things to know

Every offseason, one of the biggest mysteries revolves around who will be the next “Hard Knocks” team, and this year, we got that answer Thursday with the NFL revealing that the Chicago Bears will be featured on the HBO show. 

Here’s what you need to know: 

• Bears were an attractive choice for the HBO show. For the first time in six years, “Hard Knocks” will get to feature the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft in Caleb Williams. Before this year, the top pick had not appeared on the show as a rookie since the Browns did it in 2018 with Baker Mayfield. The Bears have an attractive offense that should make for good television with Keenan Allen, D.J. Moore and Rome Odunze, the last of whom was taken with the ninth overall pick. 
• Bears didn’t actually want to do the show. Under the criteria for “Hard Knocks,” the NFL was only able to force three teams to be on the show this year: the Bears, Broncos or Saints. In the end, the NFL chose Chicago even though the Bears wanted nothing to do with it. At the NFL owner’s meeting in March, Bears chairman George McCaskey made it clear that he would prefer to see any team besides his on the show. “We’re told there is some interest in other teams being on the program and we welcome that interest,” McCaskey said.
• Hard…