And as far as the 2000 free-agent class, well, it might as well be comprised of secret agents, given the volume of relative unknowns about to soon become millionaires thanks to the largesse of league owners desperate to make at least cosmetic roster alterations.

Not since the current system was implemented in 1993 has the talent pool of unrestricted veterans been so picked-over. The annual free-agent selloff suddenly looks like Filene's basement an hour after the famous Boston department store's yearly bridal gown bonanza. Franchises seeking a quick fix with an influx of veteran players are apt to be disappointed.

How bare is the free-agent cupboard? Said one exasperated personnel director late Thursday after last-minute signings and the "franchise" and "transition" designations took 10 high-profile players out of the market: "I'd have to say Mother Hubbard had it better than we do right now."

Reflective of the new direction were the Jacksonville Jaguars. In each of the past three signing periods, the Jaguars finalized an acquisition in the first six hours of the free-agent frenzy. Typically the Jags targeted one or two veterans, then aggressively pursued them right from the starting gun, at 12:01 a.m. But as of 7 o'clock Friday morning, seven hours into the free-agent chase, Jacksonville was laying low. Instead senior vice president Michael Huyghue channeled most of his energy on Thursday afternoon and evening into re-signing his own players, like highly regarded cornerback Aaron Beasley.

In this eighth incarnation of free agency, clubs finally seem to have gotten the message that it is far better to spend millions retaining your own best performers than invest in someone else's mistakes and misfits. For years there existed in the league a "grass is greener" philosophy, where too many general managers and coaches were convinced that anything had to be better than those veterans with whom they were playing. But over the past few springs, the emphasis has swung, and now the successful franchises typically are those that spread the long green among the players with whom they're most familiar.

"You win in this league," said Green Bay general manager Ron Wolf, never a big spender in the free-agent market, "with the guys you bring in and develop yourself. That's just the fact. You are starting to see that more and more around the league. The (free-agent) list gets thinner every year. It took a while, but teams have wised up to the best way to use the system."

In need of an outside pass rush threat and a high energy veteran to serve as catalyst on a defensive front that slumped in '99, Wolf might depart a bit from his usual strategy and make a quick strike on Atlanta defensive end Chuck Smith on Friday. Like most teams, however, the Packers likely can afford only one high-profile free agent addition and it might take some creative bookkeeping to consummate even one deal. The bookkeeping part of the game, more specifically the struggle of several franchises to squeeze under the league's $62.172 million salary cap limit, pushed some big-name veterans, including a few future Hall of Fame inductees, onto the market over the past two days. But players such as Buffalo defensive end Bruce Smith, guard Randall McDaniel of Minnesota, New England tackle Bruce Armstrong and tight end Ben Coates, and San Francisco strong safety Tim McDonald all are players well past their primes.

All of those players will be forced to accept pay cuts and most will be contacted only by teams seeking one or two solid years from a veteran they feel might nudge them to the next level. It will not be surprising, for instance, if the Tampa Bay Buccaneers pursue McDaniel, hoping he can be the player who helps fashion for them the one more victory they might require to advance to the Super Bowl.

Instead the opening days of the signing period figure to feature a scramble to sign the remaining few standout performers in the 28- to 30-year-old range and to identify the younger players who might blossom if rewarded with a bigger contract and more playing time. Two examples of the latter are defensive ends Phillip Daniels of Seattle and Pittsburgh's Orpheus Roye. The former has never collected more than nine sacks in a season but will command a contract worth at least $5 million per year. At age 26 and having been a starter on the Seahawks front for three seasons, he is a player apparently ready to move his game to the next level. Daniels already was on his way to Chicago early Friday morning to meet with Bears officials and he benefited not only from his own potential but also the fact the once-rich defensive end pool has been depleted over the past six months with re-signings and "franchise" designations.

Agent Hadley Engelhard, who represents Daniels, closely monitored the status of other ends over the past week. Every time another end was slapped with a "franchise" designation, he knew his client's value increased dramatically.

"We went from being maybe the fifth or sixth end in the market to the first or second," he said late Thursday.

Roye started only 20 games and had just nine sacks in four seasons with the Steelers but has a live body, upfield quickness, good size and is only 26 years old.

"In other years, he might have been a sleeper," said Cincinnati defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, who was in Pittsburgh when Roye was a sixth-round pick in the '96 draft. "Now everyone knows about him, and he's going to make some nice money."

Steelers defensive end Orpheus Roye has played four years in the NFL and is only 26.(Allsport)

The presence of Smith, Daniels and Roye help keep the defensive end category one of the deepest in the market, but the position is a shadow of what it really might have been. But last summer, in a rare bit of foresight, teams began to realize that defensive end would be the "hot" position in the 2000 free-agent period and started re-signing their standout pass rushers. Michael Strahan (New York Giants), Michael McCrary (Baltimore) and Raylee Johnson (San Diego) all got contract extensions. Clubs then used the "franchise" tag to keep ends like Porcher, Simeon Rice (Arizona) and Tony Brackens (Jacksonville) off the market.

"Every year, it seemed like there was one position that benefited from free agency," Ravens vice president of personnel Ozzie Newsome said. "One year it was offensive tackles. Then defensive tackles last year. This year, it was supposed to be (defensive) ends. But people looked ahead and made sure they kept their own guys. It's had a big effect."

The other major element, of course, is the salary cap. While the cap precludes the NFL from the kind of revenue disparity that has impacted baseball, it does make a difference in which teams will be active in the first week of free agency, when most of the prime players will be signed. There were at least seven teams who entered the free-agent signing period less than $2 million under the salary cap and five franchises with more than $15 million to spend.

Teams like the Bears, who have more than $15 million available and have made no secret they will be aggressive right out of the chute, could make some quick strikes. And make no doubt about it, the first weekend will be an active one as teams scramble in pursuit of the handful of quality veterans available. After the first surge, though, the market will settle into a lull, several personnel directors predicted.

Even though free agency offers one advantage over the draft -- the ability to choose players with a track record of at least four seasons in the league -- there are still difficult decisions. Does a team, for instance, go after a tight end like Shannon Sharpe of Denver, a player in decline, coming off an injury and whose numbers have always been boosted by a friendly offensive system? Or is it more sage to court a younger player at the same position, like Jay Riemersma of Buffalo, a terrific talent unknown to most fans outside of Western New York?

"Those are the kinds of value judgments everyone has to make every day," New Orleans general manager Randy Mueller said. "Make a bad one and you're going to spend a lot of money on a guy who might not be what you think he is."