The Cleveland Browns have been able to dodge HBO's 'Hard Knocks' for several years but the road may be coming to an end.

According to former NFL executive Michael Lombardi, the Browns might be on the acclaimed series this summer.

"Someone just told me the Browns might be on Hard Knocks next year---Wow, good TV if true."

There are rules that allow certain teams to avoid being featured on the show. The first excludes teams with a first year head coach. Those teams are:

-the Oakland Raiders

-the Chicago Bears

-the Detroit Lions

-the Indianapolis Colts

-the Tennessee Titans

-the Arizona Cardinals

-the New York Giants

The second rule states that teams to make a playoff appearance in the past two seasons may also decline the opportunity. The new teams are:

-the New England Patriots

-the Kansas City Chiefs

-the Pittsburgh Steelers

-the Houston Texans

-the Miami Dolphins

-the Dallas Cowboys

-the Atlanta Falcons

-the Seattle Seahawks

-the Green Bay Packers

-the Jacksonville Jaguars

-the Buffalo Bills

-the Philadelphia Eagles

-the Minnesota Vikings

-the Los Angeles Rams

-the New Orleans Saints

-the Carolina Panthers

The third rule excludes teams that have appeared on the series in the past ten years. The new exclusions are:

-the Cincinnati Bengals

-the New York Jets

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Seven teams are left standing: the Baltimore Ravens, Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Chargers, Washington Redskins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, San Francisco 49ers and Browns.

Cleveland would actually have several entertaining story lines this summer. They will likely be acclimating the No. 1 and No. 4 overall selections in the 2018 NFL Draft. One of those players is expected to be a quarterback, who will undoubtedly be subject to starter speculation next to Tyrod Taylor. Wide receivers Josh Gordon and Jarvis Landry are camera magnets. Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is a strong personality in his own right. Finally, the team had three selections in last year's first round - defensive end Myles Garrett, safety Jabrill Peppers and tight end David Njoku.

Head coach Hue Jackson noted that he wanted no part of the series last summer.

"Oh, my God. I’m not interested in that. I’m interested in just coaching our team and getting our team better," Jackson said via ohio.com.

HBO approached Cleveland about doing the series a three years ago with rookie quarterback Johnny Manziel. The Browns declined and HBO honored that request.

Lombardi was a Browns scout from 1987-1989, promoted 1989-1996 and then returned as General Manager and Vice President from 2014-2016. He also worked with the Eagles and Raiders