After a short and mercifully quiet summer break, the NFL is back in business.
The Giants and Bills get a head start on training camp because of their matchup in the Hall of Fame Game — the Bills reported on Saturday, the Giants arrive on Monday — with everyone else up and running by the weekend.
As a whole, it’s a league in a much better mood than it was this time a year ago.
From the Aaron Hernandez bombshell, to the wave of player arrests that didn’t involve murder, to fraud allegations against Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, to the massive concussion lawsuit hanging over its head, the NFL was in a decided state of turmoil just 12 months ago.
But with the arrests this year fewer and much less sensational than Hernandez’s and the head-injury suit and charges against Haslam’s company now formally settled, the NFL has something close to a smile on its face heading into the 2014 season.
A look at the summer’s top storylines:
Johnny Headline hits Cleveland
Manziel Mania is so compelling, even LeBron James decided go back to Cleveland to check it out.
Who could blame him? Pro football hasn’t had a quarterback this intriguing and closely watched for his exploits — both on and off the field — since Joe Namath.
Johnny Manziel’s arrival with the sad-sack Browns has been filled with one controversy after another practically from the moment they traded up to draft him in May — and training camp hasn’t even started yet.
From partying in Vegas to floating on inflatable pool swans to being pictured in a bathroom curiously rolling up a $20 bill, Manziel was one long, sensational headline this summer.
Jadeveon Clowney was the NFL’s No. 1 overall pick by the Texans, but he might as well have been in the witness-protection program for all the attention he received in May and June compared to Manziel.
Camp opens for Cleveland next weekend, and — judging from the sky-high ratings that follow his every move — you can rest assured the entire league will be watching to see if Manziel can beat out Brian Hoyer for the Browns’ starting job.
And, of course, to see how long Manziel can stay out of trouble.
Revis joins the evil empire
Though Darrelle Revis looks weird in a Patriots uniform to Jets fans, New England’s stranglehold on the AFC East looks tighter than ever after the surprise March addition of — sorry, Richard Sherman — the NFL’s best cover cornerback.
Revis Island probably will be located in Foxborough, Mass., for just one season because of how the two-year, $32 million contract Revis landed after being cut by the Buccaneers is set up.
Revis even hinted at that in a recent minicamp, stressing to The Post he is a Patriot “for right now.”
But after the raves Revis drew for his performance in the offseason program, what a season it could be with him on one side, ex-Seattle standout corner Brandon Browner on the other and Bill Belichick drawing up the schemes.
A New England defense that ranked 26th in the NFL in yards allowed last season doesn’t figure to bottom-feed like that again as long as Revis stays healthy.
How feared is Revis? Tom Brady refused to throw even a single pass in his direction during an entire minicamp practice last month.
DeSean’s odd departure
The curious case of DeSean Jackson still is as curious as it was when the Eagles abruptly released him in late March, paving the way for the three-time Pro Bowl wideout to sign with the NFC East-rival Redskins.
Despite reports Philadelphia was concerned about Jackson’s alleged connections to gang members and various shady characters, Eagles coach Chip Kelly insisted Jackson’s release was “purely a football decision.”
Even with Kelly’s famously maverick ways, that was — and still is — hard to swallow.
How does releasing a blazing-fast receiver who caught 82 passes for 1,332 yards and nine TDs for a division champion improve a team?
Eagles fans are about to find out.
Jackson, meanwhile, by all accounts has fit in quickly with Washington and, at least on paper, will give Robert Griffin III one of the league’s best pass-catching tandems alongside Pierre Garcon, who led the NFL with 113 receptions last season.
Jackson won’t have to wait long for his chance at revenge, either. The Redskins travel to Philly on Sept. 21 for a Week 3 matchup.
Seattle aiming for back-to-back
The Seahawks were a true rarity last season — a dominant team in the regular season that dominated in the playoffs and Super Bowl.
That doesn’t happen often anymore in the parity-mad NFL, where it’s seemingly much more common for a 9-7 team to suddenly get red hot in January and grab the Lombardi Trophy out of nowhere (see: Giants, New York).
But Seattle was no Cinderella in 2013, going 13-3 in the regular season, using a ridiculous home-field advantage to win two playoff games, then obliterating Peyton Manning and the Broncos by a 43-8 count in Super Bowl XLVIII.
Can the Seahawks trump recent NFL history even further and do it all over again?
It certainly is not out of the question, considering Seattle still has one of the youngest and deepest rosters in the league and kept their core — especially on defense — intact.
Then again, so did their bitter NFC West rivals in San Francisco. Considering the 49ers’ 12-4 mark nearly matched the Seahawks’ 13-3 record last year, and the Niners nearly upset them in the NFC Championship Game on the road, even winning the division again — much less repeating as Super Bowl champs — promises to be a dogfight.