The harder he tries, the harder it is for Bill Belichick to return to the NFL — directly or indirectly.

Tuesday’s statement from NFL Media regarding the failure of NFL Films and North Carolina to reach an agreement regarding offseason Hard Knocks comes a day after rumors began to spread that the deal was off, due in part to the fact (and it is indeed a fact) that multiple owners weren’t happy about Belichick getting an NFL Films platform.

So if the paperwork wasn’t signed, it was just a matter of finding an impasse. It might have arisen during negotiations regarding who would own the footage gathered by NFL Films. Would it be NFL property, or would North Carolina retain the rights? For all anyone knows, Belichick personally wanted to have ownership of the final product.

There were also rumblings that certain people close to Belichick were already inserting himself (or herself) into the process in a way that was not viewed as ideal.

Regardless, the initial report from Ryan Glasspiegel of FrontOfficeSports.com was correct. As of Friday, North Carolina and Belichick were going to be the subject of this year’s offseason Hard Knocks. Between Friday and Monday, something happened. And common sense says that something ultimately had something to do with the some of the 32 people who own and operate NFL Films.

If NFL Films and Belichick had managed to keep a lid on it until after the ink was dry on the paperwork, it might have been a go. And, yes, it’s possible that someone leaked it prematurely with the deliberate plan of killing it.

Either way, it’s gone.

Offseason Hard Knocks is likely gone as well, at least for a year. All because the inaugural effort, which chronicled the Giants’ misadventures with running back Saquon Barkley, contained too much truth and not enough fluff.