The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Just 40 days after announcing his retirement, Tom Brady said in March he is coming back for a remarkable 23rd season.

Despite having already won a record seven Super Bowls, with two different teams, the 45-year-old feels he has “a lot of unfinished business” with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Bucs are again expected to battle it out with Aaron Rodgers’ Green Bay Packers and last season’s Super Bowl winners, the Los Angeles Rams, for the NFC Championship.

And although Brady’s U-turn was big news, Russell Wilson and Deshaun Watson joined new teams in two of the most valuable trades in NFL history.

Wilson’s move to Denver has thrust the Broncos into contention alongside the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers in the AFC West, with all three set to challenge Josh Allen’s Buffalo Bills for the AFC crown.

The winners of each Conference will meet at Super Bowl 57 in Arizona on 12 February.

And the new season begins where the last one ended, at LA’s SoFi Stadium as the Rams host the Bills, who are favourites to succeed them as NFL champions (01:20 BST, Friday).

Brady’s back – but for how long?

Tampa Bay promoted defensive coordinator Todd Bowles to become their new head coach and they were preparing for a transitional year until Brady’s change of heart.

And it wasn’t just a sentimental return as he remains one of the best in the business.

Two seasons ago he led the Bucs to a Super Bowl victory, then last season he led the league for passing yards and touchdowns.

When he does finally retire, he will become Fox Sports’ lead NFL analyst on a 10-year deal worth $375m (£325m). When that will be, not even Brady knows.

“Could this be my last year? Absolutely,” he said. “I would say it’s year to year.”

Jack Crawford, the British defensive end who called time on his 10-year NFL career in May, told BBC Sport: “Sometimes when a great player decides to keep going they bite off a bit more than they can chew. It can affect their legacy, but I don’t think that will happen with Tom Brady.

“If you’ve got Tom Brady on your roster, you’re always going to be a contender, no matter what.”

Can the Rams run it back?

The Rams went all in to make sure they reached the Super Bowl in their own house and the gamble paid off, as new quarterback Matthew Stafford and mid-season signings Von Miller and Odell Beckham Jr helped them win a second NFL title.

There was soon talk of the Rams ‘running it back’, but the Bills lured Miller to Buffalo, while Beckham Jr is still recovering from the torn ACL he suffered in the Super Bowl.

However, Aaron Donald has signed an improved contract, making the three-time Defensive Player of the Year the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history, and the rest of the Rams’ stars remain.

Their main NFC rivals are expected to be the Bucs, the Packers and the San Francisco 49ers, where Trey Lance has replaced Jimmy Garoppolo as the starting quarterback.

And with Brady back, Jameis Winston established as the starting QB at the New Orleans Saints, Marcus Mariota the Atlanta Falcons’ new QB and Christian McCaffrey back from injury for the Carolina Panthers, Crawford sees the NFC South as one to watch.

“It’s an interesting division,” he said. “I can’t wait to see how it shakes out because, before Brady got there, it was starting to get a bit stale.”

Wilson move part of quarterback carousel

Denver were linked with Aaron Rodgers, who was named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player for a fourth time last season, before the 38-year-old signed a record contract extension at Green Bay.

Instead, the Broncos signed Russell Wilson from the Seattle Seahawks, handing the 33-year-old a five-year deal to 2029 worth $245m (£212m).

The last two seasons have seen veteran quarterbacks win the Super Bowl in their first year with their new team. Will the formula work for Denver too?

“When Seattle had an offensive line that were all on the same page, there was nothing Russell Wilson couldn’t do,” said Crawford. “Now let’s see what Denver’s offensive line is like.”

Elsewhere, the Cleveland Browns signed Deshaun Watson from the Houston Texans on a five-year deal worth $230m, but the 26-year-old is suspended for the first 11 games after an investigation into sexual misconduct allegations.

The first game Watson will be available for is against Houston. His arrival in Cleveland saw Baker Mayfield head to Carolina and his first game for the Panthers is against his former team this Sunday.

Fellow quarterbacks Carson Wentz (Washington Commanders) and Matt Ryan (Indianapolis Colts) have also moved, while Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement means the Pittsburgh Steelers will begin the season with a new starting QB, Mitch Trubisky, for the first time since 2004.

Defensive rookies aim to make their mark

Having again finished with the NFL’s worst record last season, the Jacksonville Jaguars had the first draft pick for the second straight year after selecting quarterback Trevor Lawrence in 2021.

Defensive players dominated this year’s draft and this time the Jags went for linebacker Travon Walker ahead of defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, who has already made a name for himself with his local team Detroit.

The Lions were the subject of the latest Hard Knocks documentary in pre-season and one of the series highlights was Hutchinson’s initiation song, a rousing rendition of Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean.

His former Michigan team-mate David Ojabo suffered a torn Achilles before the draft, but the Scottish linebacker was still selected by the Baltimore Ravens.

Ojabo could miss his entire rookie season and the Ravens, named after Edgar Allan Poe’s famous poem, suffered another injury blow during half-time of their final pre-season game.

Ravens mascot Poe was carted off the field after getting hurt in a game between youth players and mascots, before coach John Harbaugh said Poe is out for the season and that the team is looking for a replacement.

And although Crawford has now retired, Ojabo can seek advice from another fellow Briton Efe Obada, who is now just down the road having left the Bills to join the rebranded Washington Commanders.

Packers finally coming to London

Since the first NFL International Series game in 2007, 30 regular season games have been played in London with just one franchise yet to travel across the Atlantic.

That will change this year as the Green Bay Packers finally make their British bow against the New York Giants at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 9 October.

That’s one of three games to be played in London. The New Orleans Saints face the Minnesota Vikings at Tottenham on 2 October, before Trevor Lawrence’s Jaguars make their annual trip to the UK to play the Broncos at Wembley on 30 October.

There will be five international games in all, as the NFL also heads to Mexico and, for the first time, Germany, but Crawford is wary of predicting who will be at the big show in Arizona on 12 February.

“I’d bet on the story,” he said. “I swear, every year there’s always a crazy scenario with the team that ends up winning the Super Bowl.

“It feels like all the stars aligned – like when the Philadelphia Eagles won [in 2018], Brady winning in his first year at Tampa Bay and last season with the Rams winning in their hometown.”

The Broncos against the Arizona Cardinals then? You heard it here first.