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Now mix in the early signings in the first week of free agency, the typically frenetic spending spree with which teams come out of the chute and throw good money at some bad players, and the result is the most picked-over group in the eight-year history of the system.

Those ingredients combine to create a scenario under which teams will broaden their search for top-flight players and will conspire to acquire the high-profile talent. In a convoluted manner, that has made Cincinnati Bengals running back Corey Dillon, a restricted free agent, one of the most privately discussed players in the league right now.

The former second-round draft choice (1997), touted in a SportsLine NFL Insider column back in December, has rushed for 1,000 yards in each of his three seasons. At age 24, having already demonstrated his willingness to pound the ball between the tackles, he is regarded as one of the top young, workhorse-type tailbacks in the league.

Were he an unrestricted free agent, Dillon would command a deal in excess of the five-year, $25 million contract James Stewart signed on Monday with the Detroit Lions.

But such is the dearth of talent in the unrestricted market, and the fact there currently are three or four teams in desperate need of a running back, that not even Dillon's restricted status might keep some franchises from making a play for him. The risk: Some team might invest a lot of time in the attempted gambit and still not land Dillon, who would like to get out of Cincinnati.

Because he is a restricted player and the Bengals made Dillon a qualifying offer, the club owns a right of first refusal to him, and owner Mike Brown has publicly vowed not to lose him. That still might not be enough, however, to preclude some teams from trying to steal him away.

The way the restricted free-agent market works is this: Teams make qualifying offers to veterans who have three seasons of experience in the league, thus retaining a right of first refusal for those players. The qualifying offers come in three levels. The lowest level, which requires a team to make a one-year tender for a salary of $472,000, means the team keeps the player at the round in which he was drafted. For example, the Atlanta Falcons took tight end O.J. Santiago in the third round of the '97 draft. Since they tendered him at the lowest level, they would receive a No. 3 pick in return if another club signed Santiago to an offer sheet and the Falcons decided to not match it.

A second restricted level requires a team to make a tender of $1.027 million, thus placing a first-round tag on the player. For example, the Arizona Cardinals took defensive end Mark Smith in the seventh-round in 1997. But because they made him the $1.027 million tender, they would receive a first-round pick as compensation if another team signed Smith to an offer sheet and the Cardinals opted not to match it.

Then there is a third level, one that only Dillon and Seattle quarterback Jon Kitna hold this year, and the price tag is steeper. The tender is for $1.371 million and brings the team a first- and a third-round draft pick if another team signs the player.

Curtis Martin was successfully pried from the Patriots as a restricted free agent two years ago. (AP)

In most free-agent signing periods, the restricted free-agent pool is all but ignored, since only six restricted players have changed teams the last four years. Movement is so rare, in fact, that only the most knowledgeable fans probably even realize the restricted market exists. That could change in the next few weeks, especially if some team goes hard after Dillon.

"The unrestricted market is so bad this year," said one AFC personnel director, "that teams might be forced to look to some restricted guys. It's a big gamble, because you might not get the player anyway, but sometimes the risk is worth it."

One team, the New Orleans Saints, already have taken the risk this year and figure to benefit from the gamble. The club on Tuesday night signed restricted free agent Charlie Clemons, a linebacker from the St. Louis Rams, to a four-year, $6 million offer sheet first reported by SportsLine. The deal includes a $2 million signing bonus -- not bad for a guy who only three years ago was making $35,000 in the CFL and earned just $325,000 from the Rams in 1999.

St. Louis, which doesn't even pay starting middle linebacker London Fletcher commensurate with Clemons' offer sheet from the Saints, almost certainly will not match the deal and probably won't even take the entire seven days allotted for them to decide. That means Clemons will go to New Orleans. The Rams, who originally signed Clemons as an undrafted free agent, will not receive any draft pick compensation when they do not match.

Another franchise that likes to dabble in the restricted free-agent pool is Miami. The Dolphins acquired tight end Hunter Goodwin from Minnesota as a restricted free agent last spring after the Vikings declined to match the offer sheet. Miami forfeited a fourth-round pick to sign Goodwin. This week, the Dolphins have met with a number of restricted free agents, including Pittsburgh tailback Richard Huntley and St. Louis offensive lineman Ryan Tucker.

There are 22 restricted free agents who were made qualifying offers at the first-round level, but who entered the league in a lower round. Even the possibility of forfeiting a No. 1 pick might not keep some teams from pursuing restricted free agents such as San Diego tight end Freddie Jones, Buffalo defensive tackle Pat Williams, linebacker Dexter Coakley of Dallas, offensive tackle Adam Meadows of Indianapolis or Washington wide receiver Albert Connell.

Said one general manager: "Two of the best defensive tackles in this whole shooting match are Williams and (Jason) Ferguson of the Jets. Are either of them worth giving up a No. 1 pick to sign? Some of our scouts feel Williams might be and Ferguson could be, in the right system."

If a big-name restricted free agent changes teams, though, it is likely to be Dillon.

Brown said he has "set aside a nest egg" to match any offer. But agent Marvin Demoff quietly is trying to devise a strategy to create some action on Dillon. One of the most powerful agents who represents NFL players, Demoff could call in some chips to create interest. More important to the teams interested in Dillon, though, is how they might frame a contract that would force Cincinnati to not match it.

Frankly, there are several ways to do that, and teams need look no further back than '98, when the New York Jets stole tailback Curtis Martin, then a restricted free agent, away from New England. The key was a contract provision that permitted Martin to void the deal after only one season. The Patriots, who weren't about to pay Martin a big signing bonus and then have him bolt the club after only one season, declined to match the Jets' offer sheet on him. Another way is to inflate the signing bonus or to build in a huge roster bonus to the contract.

SportsLine has learned that at least two teams, Cleveland and Baltimore, have internally talked about what it will take to pry Dillon away from the Bengals, and both remain interested in trying to come up with a plan to do so. Clearly the Ravens could afford the compensation of first- and third-round draft choices, since they own an extra No. 1 pick this year. The Browns, who have the first overall selection, and plan to take Florida State wide receiver Peter Warrick, aren't about to surrender that pick.

But as first reported Saturday by SportsLine, the Browns have a plan for attempting to pirate away Dillon, a back who ran wild against their defense in two games last season. The Browns have quietly spoken with another club, a team that has a pick very low in the first round, about perhaps signing Dillon to the offer sheet. If that team got Dillon, it would then deal him to Cleveland for a package of draft choices.

Let's say the team is St. Louis, which has the final pick in the first round, the 31st choice overall. They could pull off such a deal. From Cleveland, they would obtain the top pick in the second round, the 32nd choice overall, along with other draft picks. It would mean falling back only one overall pick for the Rams, and also collecting some additional choices. It would all be a moot point, of course, if Cincinnati merely matched any offer sheet signed by Dillon.

But Cleveland president Carmen Policy is very adept at structuring a contract, perhaps including a so-called "poison pill" that would preclude the Bengals from matching the offer. While there are some salary cap ramifications for the team that originally signs Dillon to an offer sheet, they would be somewhat offset by a sign-and-trade mechanism the league used in the trade in which wide receiver Joey Galloway went from Seattle to Dallas. In such a case, the team that reached the agreement with Dillon would have 24 hours to finalize the contract and strike a trade.

In addition to the Browns and Ravens, at least two AFC West teams have an interest in trying to acquire Dillon, and one of those teams has floated ideas through an intermediary to the player.