Paul Domowitch | Money's there for the taking

NFL FREE AGENCY ain't what it used to be.

As more and more teams have gotten better at managing their salary cap and re-signing their own players, the quality of much of the merchandise that is making it to the March marketplace is more Kmart than Neiman Marcus.

When the free-agency signing period gets under way tomorrow, there will be a lot of teams with spending money, but few top-of-the-line players to spend it on.

Nearly a third of the league's 32 teams currently are more than $30 million under the $109 million cap. Nineteen have at least $20 million in cap space. But in recent weeks, an already-thin market has turned downright anorexic thanks to 11th-hour re-signings and the use of the franchise-player tag.

"In this day and age, teams are doing a much better job of keeping their players in-house," Texans general manager Rick Smith said. "Free agency, as it was 6-7-8 years ago isn't the same because, No. 1, teams are keeping their good players [re-signing them], and No. 2, they are using the [franchise] tag when it's necessary and advantageous to do so."

Seven teams have franchised players: the Colts (defensive end Dwight Freeney), Saints (defensive end Charles Grant), Patriots (cornerback Asante Samuel), Bears (linebacker Lance Briggs), Bengals (defensive end Justin Smith), Lions (defensive tackle Cory Redding) and Seahawks (placekicker Josh Brown).

NFL personnel people pretty much feel there are only five blue-chip players who will be available: Ravens linebacker Adalius Thomas, Bills cornerback Nate Clements, Falcons defensive end Patrick Kerney, Bengals guard Eric Steinbach and Chargers guard Kris Dielman. All are expected to be gobbled up quickly and given obscene amounts of money.

"We start out and there are all of these great marquee players, and as you go along, you see all the marqee players disappear," Titans general manager Mike Reinfeldt said. "Everybody kind of has visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads, and as you go through, teams start tagging players and re-signing others and all of a sudden, a lot of the difference-makers aren't there."

Said James Harris, the Jaguars' vice president of player personnel: "I'm not sure if the same type of talent is available on the market this year, with teams signing so many of their players and a lot of the top players being franchised."

The scarcity of top-level talent won't prevent teams from overspending on midlevel players, though. Look for the likes of Eagles wide receiver Donté Stallworth, Colts running back Dominic Rhodes, Cardinals offensive tackle Leonard Davis and Eagles safety Mike Lewis to hit the jackpot as teams use their ample cap space to address as many needs as possible before the draft.

Eight of the nine teams with the most cap space had nonwinning records last season, which means the clubs with the most money have the biggest reason to spend it.

"I think teams in general are getting better at understanding value in players and how to manage their cap and their resources," said Packers general manager Ted Thompson. "So I don't necessarily think it's going to be teams' ideas to go throwing money around if they don't think it's a good investment. But I'm sure there will be some big deals done. There always are."

One thing that might keep free-agent prices down a bit is the fact that the Redskins, whose owner, Dan Snyder, normally throws around money in March like Pacman Jones in a strip joint, won't be a big player in the free-agent market this year. They are near the bottom of the league in available cap room, though they've been working feverishly the last couple of weeks restructuring deals and releasing players to give them money to spend on over-the-hill veterans.

"If you do your homework in free agency, you can find players that will help your roster," said Reinfeldt, whose Titans are about $36 million under the cap. "We still have the opportunity to supplement our roster." *

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