I want to start this week with New England, because I think the conversation about what Mike Vrabel has built in Foxborough is not being had at the right level.

Drake Maye completed 354 passes for 4,394 yards, threw 31 touchdowns, ran for 450 yards, and posted a 113.5 passer rating in his second NFL season. His team finished 13-4, won the AFC East, and played in Super Bowl LX — where they lost to Seattle, 29-13. That is a legitimately extraordinary outcome for a franchise that, two years ago, was looking at a full rebuild with a first-overall pick and no clear timeline.

Here is what I want to say about what Vrabel has done: he did not build the way most organizations rebuild. He did not strip it down and wait. He made the judgment, apparently in year one, that the quarterback was good enough to accelerate the timeline — that waiting for the roster to catch up to Maye was the wrong approach when Maye was already ready to pull the roster forward. So he spent. He made the draft work. He got to the Super Bowl in year two.

They lost. 29-13 is not a close game. Seattle was better on the day. But going to the Super Bowl in year two of a rebuild, with a second-year quarterback, is an organizational achievement of the first order, and I am not sure enough people have said it plainly.

Vrabel is now building the next version of this team in a hurry. The Romeo Doubs signing — four years, up to $80 million — gives Maye a legitimate number-one target at the position. Doubs is a contested-catch receiver with enough route variety to work in multiple concepts, and the contract places him at the upper end of the market for his tier of receiver. Vrabel also signed safety Kevin Byard, who played for him in Tennessee and whose football intelligence has been a constant regardless of what team he has been on. That is a coach going to get a player he trusts in a specific way. Alijah Vera-Tucker at left guard, Dre'Mont Jones for pass-rush depth, Reggie Gilliam at running back — the additions are not glamorous, but they are coherent.

The other piece of the New England offseason story is A.J. Brown. The Patriots are the most consistently named suitor in league circles. The sticking point remains Philadelphia's asking price — a first-round pick and a second — and the cap mechanics that make a pre-June trade genuinely expensive for the Eagles. A June 1 trade, when Philadelphia's dead cap obligation on Brown drops from roughly $43 million to approximately $20 million, is where the league's collective read has settled. That the Eagles signed Marquise "Hollywood" Brown this week at one year and $6.5 million — widely read as roster preparation for a departure — suggests the organization is not dismissing the June timeline.

If the Patriots get A.J. Brown, their receiving corps around Maye becomes one of the five best in the NFL. If they don't, they have a legitimate target in Doubs and a coaching staff that has demonstrated the ability to work with what it has. Either way, New England is not waiting for things to align. They are making things align.

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The Aaron Rodgers situation in Pittsburgh has moved slightly, and I want to note it precisely.

Ian Rapoport reported this week that Rodgers plans to inform the Steelers of his decision before the April draft — likely by the end of March. The timeline that was described in mid-March as "mid-March" has slipped. The Steelers' public posture, from the people I have been able to reach, is best described as patient optimism. They believe he is coming back. They are not certain. They have built a roster around the assumption that he will, and every day that assumption goes unconfirmed is a day the offensive preparation for 2026 is incomplete.

Rodgers said this clearly: "There's been no deadline put in front of me." That is the kind of thing a player says when he has been given latitude and has not yet finished using it. The end of March is the next thing to watch.

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The Denver Broncos made the most surprising transaction of the week on either side of the ball.

Sean Payton gave up a first-round pick, a third, and a fourth to acquire Jaylen Waddle from Miami. Let me say what that means: Payton gave up more draft capital than most organizations spend in three years at the skill positions to add a receiver. Waddle is 27, explosive in short areas, legitimately dangerous after the catch, and coming off a season in Miami where the offense around him was not built to feature him. In Denver, running Sean Payton's passing game, he has the profile of a player who produces 90 catches and 1,100 yards when the system deploys him correctly. The price was real. Whether it was right depends on what Payton believes about his quarterback and his timeline.

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One more thing.

The Illinois House returned to session today after its recess. As of this morning, no floor vote on the Bears' stadium funding bill had been confirmed in Springfield. The two-state situation — Indiana already signed its bill, Illinois House back in session — is still live, and it may still resolve this week. I'll have more when there is more to report.