On Friday morning, Bill Belichick touched off a frenzy when he told his New England Patriots players during a team meeting that he was letting them start their vacation early and canceling the day’s final mini-camp practice.

That Belichick set the players free is likely a sign that he was pleased with the progress the team made during organized team activities — with OTA practices non-contact, much of the work done is installation of plays and packages.

There’s now about a seven-week break until New England begins training camp (the team announced Friday  it will start on July 30) and the nitty-gritty preparations for the 2009 season.

With so much of the offseason behind them — the bulk of free agency, the draft, the workout program and camp — and so many of the pieces in place, the question now becomes, who will the ’09 Patriots be?

To many, they are the odds-on favorite to win their fourth Super Bowl title this decade.

The Dolphins’ Joey Porter, who has said the road to the AFC East title goes through Miami, and Jets’ safety Kerry Rhodes, who believes New York will have the best defense in the NFL (and had his coach back him up), would seem to disagree with that. The other teams in the league might as well.

But imagine for a moment you’re the defensive coordinator for the Buccaneers or the Bills or the Texans and have to make sure you have enough defensive backs to cover Randy Moss, Wes Welker and Joey Galloway. You have to slow the four-headed monster of Fred Taylor, Laurence Maroney, Sammy Morris and Kevin Faulk, and if you somehow do get all of that covered, Chris Baker, Alex Smith, Benjamin Watson or David Thomas could do some damage.

Oh, and the man delivering the ball is a rested and ready Tom Brady, whose desire to excel on the football field has been renewed.

On paper, this year’s version of New England’s offense could be just as dangerous as the record-setting 2007 edition. Moss and Welker have said it could be even better, because they each have more experience with the complicated playbook.

The one variable is Brady and how he’ll be able to move on his reconstructed knee in game conditions with linebackers flying at him. He was never the fastest, but his ability to quickly slide away from trouble and deliver throws was uncanny and often very effective.

Over the past couple of weeks, when media were allowed to watch the Pats’ OTA sessions, it wasn’t hard to see Brady progressing. He admitted to being rusty last month, but over the last couple of practices, his throws were on target more often. More importantly, he began moving around the field more, at times pulling the ball down and rolling to his right a couple of times as well.

Clearly, a no-pads practice is different than a live game, but progress is always a positive.

And what of the defense? There are a lot of new faces in the secondary to be sure, but as was affirmed last season, New England’s defensive success is predicated on the front seven putting pressure on the quarterback.

The Patriots were 26th of 32 teams in third-down defense, allowing opponents to convert the third down 44 percent of the time. On the defensive line, Ty Warren was hampered by a torn groin, and among the linebackers, Adalius Thomas and Pierre Woods both suffered season-ending injuries, and Jerod Mayo wasn’t asked to blitz as he learned the basics of his intricate position.

Without that consistent pressure, the secondary had to cover longer and was exposed as a mediocre unit.

That linebacker unit is the one place the Pats may have lost and not gained, with Mike Vrabel being shipped to the Midwest and Jason Taylor opting to return to Miami. But the secondary, in theory, has been beefed up with the additions of Shawn Springs and Leigh Bodden, Patrick Chung and Darius Butler.

There are questions and possibilities — the major one being that Belichick may not be done shuffling the roster.