Giardi: NFL Notebook - Could Patriots embrace new-look at safety? Plus, last go-round for ARod

I'm going to empty out the Patriots' notebook to start the notebook. Crazy, I know. You can't pigeonhole me. I am a wild and crazy guy (I totally did that in my Steve Martin voice, circa 1978. Yes, I'm that old. Mind your business.)

- Wednesday was Patriots Team Community Day. It was a great event, as the players, coaching staff, and owner Robert Kraft welcomed students from Young Woods Elementary School in Providence, R.I. The kids got to participate in football drills. Let me tell you, it warmed my cold, black heart to see the energy and enthusiasm many of the players poured into the hour or so, and the kids' response was memorable. I don't know if you all have social media, but here are just a couple of videos I shot with my phone.

- We talked to several players after the event, including Kyle Williams. Entering the offseason, Mike Vrabel mentioned how important this spring was for Williams from a strength standpoint, and that message was received and acted upon by the now 2nd-year pro. Williams says he's up to around 193 pounds after playing somewhere in the mid-180s last year. Williams struggled with the physical aspects of the game, and if he's going to take the leap, getting stronger is instrumental.

"Play strength was definitely something that I wanted to emphasize," he told us. "And I knew that I need to get my lower half strong and bulk up a little bit.

“Coming across the middle, getting off press (coverage) and all that type of stuff. So that was one of my biggest emphases was mobility and just putting on a little weight.”

Williams has accomplished this by lifting and eating a lot of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (I do that, but it just makes me smushy). He also loves his candy - he's fallen in deep like with Gummy Bears - but isn't sacrificing the speed that popped up a handful of times in his rookie year.

“I would say that me now from my rookie year is going to be night and day."

- Linebacker Christian Elliss lit up when talking about being in the same system for a second straight year. Considering the lack of depth at the linebacker position - at least on paper - Elliss being a more consistent player would be helpful. If he falters, veteran KJ Britt could assume the Jack Gibbens role. Britt, by the way, told us he grew to understand he won't be a superstar - "I might not be the fastest, I might not be the strongest" - but "I’m a football player."

- Did a podcast with Taylor Kyles this week, and as we were discussing Craig Woodson (wrote about him Thursday), he talked about the idea of having Woodson play a majority of his snaps in the box. Sign me up for this. Kevin Byard has morphed more into a single-high safety over the last couple of seasons, and you can see him struggle when trying to cover out of the slot. By going away from the interchangeable safety theme, the Pats can minimize Byard's exposure in those situations.

BYE BYE

Unless he's being intellectually dishonest - and no one would ever accuse Aaron Rodgers of such a thing (would they?) - 2026-27 is the final season of his career.

"This is it," he told reporters on Wednesday.

Were I inclined to be a smart aleck (who, me?), I'd tell you Rodgers hasn't been anything more than a mid to lower-level quarterback since 2021. That's four full years during which the name has carried far more weight than he's delivered on the field. Oh sure, the stats don't look half-bad: he threw for 3,322 yards, 24 TDs and just 7 INTs last season for the Steelers. But if you watched, Rodgers was afraid of his own shadow in the pocket (again) and mastered the art of throwing the three-yard checkdown on 3rd-and-7. So, between that and Mike Tomlin leaving the sideline for a television studio, the 42-year-old thought that was that, at least in Pittsburgh and maybe period, until the Steelers pursued an old friend.

“I love Mike T,” Rodgers said. “I really appreciated the opportunity to come in last year and loved my experience with him. When he said he was stepping away, that was an emotional moment, just because we all love him so much and care about him. I thought that that was probably it for me in Pittsburgh.

“But when the decision was made to hire Mike (McCarthy). I started opening my mind back up to coming back.”

The two have a wealth of experience together; Rodgers played under McCarthy for 13 years in Green Bay and thrived until that relationship grew stale. Now, they are reunited and, at least for now, excited to be together again.

"Honestly, sitting in the first 8 o'clock meeting on Monday took me back to being a 22-year-old kid sitting in Green Bay, listening to Mike's first meeting in 2006," Rodgers said. "It's fun. I mean, it's like 'pinch me' moments. It's been happening the last few days..."

McCarthy called the experience surreal and added, "We both talked about the moment walking out on the field together for the first time. It was special."

We'll see if they feel the same way in December and January.

TROUBLE

The Chiefs believe Rashee Rice is a number one receiver. When he's on the field, he has absolutely been a difference maker for KC. But therein lies the problem: availability. Between injury and, more troubling, off-field issues, Rice has not been able to consistently deliver that, playing in just 28 of 51 regular-season games.

Now, one week after having knee surgery to clean up debris in his knee, the wideout finds himself in jail, where he will stay for the next 30 days. Rice was on probation for his role in a car crash two years ago that left multiple people injured. He violated said probation by testing positive for marijuana use, and now will miss OTAs and mandatory mini-camp. There's also the question of how, or whether, he will be allowed to rehab the knee with the level of care he would receive through the team. It was not expected that the surgery would keep him off the field for training camp, but now? Who knows?

Rice served a six-game suspension at the start of the 2025 season following that 2024 high-speed, multi-vehicle crash in Dallas. He was also accused by the mother of his children of severe abuse, but was not criminally charged. Rice is entering the last year of his rookie deal and, with a good season, could have been in line for a massive contract. Perhaps that will happen. Or perhaps Rice will just be another cautionary tale of talent wasted.

SEAL OF APPROVAL

Joe Burrow hasn't been this happy since I don't know when. The Bengals franchise QB is raving about the offseason his team had.

“This is the most talented roster that we have had since I have been here,” he said.

After missing the playoffs for a third straight season, Burrow turned up the heat on the front office. There were even some weird rumblings about retirement or a wandering eye (Miami, anyone?). But owner Mike Brown green-lit some serious spending in free agency (edge Boye Mafe, safety Bryan Cook, DT Jonathan Allen) and also swapped the team's first-round pick, 10th overall, to New York for Dexter Lawrence.

“The front office has taken a lot of heat from the fans, the public, the media,” Burrow said. “We can put all of that behind us. They went and made it happen with free agency. 

"I thought the draft, obviously, we’ll find out. We don’t know a ton about these rookies yet, but it seems like they brought the right kind of guys in. And then obviously with Dexter, making a trade like that, that doesn’t happen a ton in the NFL. So it’s exciting to see.”

The oddsmakers agree. The Bengals are currently favored in 15 of their 17 regular-season games. Of course, you don't win diddly on paper, but the optimism, at least in May, doesn't appear to be misplaced. In fact, when talking about the organization's growing profile, Burrow said, "We're going to go win a lot of games this year and play great and win a Super Bowl."

Bold, especially considering Burrow's injury history, but at least he's got a little (or lot) of that swagger back.

NEWS NUGGETS

- The NFL used to insist that every team appear in at least one primetime game. This upcoming season, that "rule" is no more. Five squads are left out of that window: Tennessee, Arizona, Las Vegas, NYJ and Miami. The Pats schedule, which is certainly more challenging on paper than it was a year ago, features five games against that quintet (two each vs. the Jets and Dolphins, and one vs. the Raiders). If they want to win the AFC East again, start there by taking care of business against teams that both Las Vegas and the league think will stink.

- The Lions inked linebacker Jack Campbell to a four-year extension just two months after declining his fifth-year option (taking him through the 2030 season). The issue isn't his play. Rather, because of the way the league classifies the position, Campbell would have been due nearly $22 million. That would have made him the highest-paid off-the-ball LB in the league. The former first-round pick was immense last season, recording 176 tackles, five sacks and four PBUs.

- Four weeks after drafting his replacement (potentially), the Rams signed Matthew Stafford to a one-year extension for $55 million that, with incentives, can get to $60 million. He is now under contract through the 2027 season. The 38-year-old is the reigning MVP after throwing for 4700 yards and 46 touchdowns.