Among all the early offseason NFL moves so far, the one that gets my vote so far for most surprising is Tedy Bruschi signing up for another tour of duty in New England. Under normal circumstances, a guy with 12 NFL seasons under his belt is pretty much on his way to the golf course unless he's a quarterback or a long snapper. And Bruschi's medical history represents anything but normal circumstances.

Reportedly, Bruschi, who will turn 35 by training camp, is signing a MULTI-year deal with the Pats today. We all know not to put too much stock in so-called long-term contracts in the NFL since the base salaries are not guaranteed but it still has to make even the most cynical among Patriot detractors smile to see the gutsy Bruschi exhibit that kind of optimism.

Lest we not forget, this is a guy who had a stroke after the Super Bowl in 2005, had surgery to fix a hole in his heart and came back to play the last half of the 2005 season and make 63 tackles. He broke a wrist in training camp in 2006 and missed one game. Last year, his stats were 92 tackles, which led the team, and a couple of sacks while helping form a geriatric linebacking corp that contributed to one of the greatest seasons in NFL history.

Bruschi did catch a couple of breaks roster-wise lately. The Patriots missed out on free agent LB Zach Thomas, who was cut by Miami and signed with Dallas.  And New England waived linebacker Roosevelt Colvin, whose season ended with a foot injury in November.

Photo credit: Steven Senne, AP