Seahawks CB Ken Lucas had six interceptions in 2004. Harry How/Getty Images

In the opening 15 days of this year's free-agency period -- when the dollars have been flying and the deals fairly furious -- it has been the corner market that has been most active. And we're not talking about any Ma and Pa type operation down on Main Street.

Cornerback has been the hot position in this year's personnel shopping spree, with a bevy of front-line players being snapped up and awarded contracts that all fell close to the range of six years for $30 million, with $10 million to $13 million to sign.

Samari Rolle, Ken Lucas, Fred Smoot, Anthony Henry and Gary Baxter all got deals in that ballpark. And another major domino fell when two-time defending Super Bowl champion New England cut Ty Law and then replaced him by trading a third-round pick to Arizona for Duane Starks.

Still on the market via trade are Miami's Patrick Surtain and Oakland's Charles Woodson, with Law and Tennessee's Andre Dyson available as unrestricted free agents. That's a lot of starting cornerback talent for one off-season.

Here's our top-five take on which of the free-agent cornerbacks were the best long-term investment:

1. Ken Lucas, Carolina -- Playing in Seattle, so far from the nation's media spotlight, Lucas didn't have the name appeal that many of his free-agent counterparts did. But personnel folks within the league considered him the best all-around cornerback available, at least given the fact that New England's Ty Law was coming off an injury-marred 2004 season. At 6-0, 205 pounds, Lucas is big enough to match up well with more physical receivers, and fast and light enough to run with the quicker ones.

He's aggressive in press coverage, and doesn't get lost in open space when playing off a receiver. He's also not shy about sticking his head in there on run defense, which is a growing rarity among top-rated cornerbacks (a trend that began with Deion Sanders' don't-hit, don't-tackle policy). No less of an authority than Cowboys head coach Bill Parcells had Lucas rated as the most complete cornerback in free agency.

Did the Panthers have to overpay to get Lucas? With a reported signing bonus approaching $13 million, probably so. But that's the free-agency game. You pay through the nose -- especially for a quality young player -- on the open market, and hope that he can be the exception rather than the rule in terms of the return on a big-money contract. At 26, entering his fifth NFL season, Lucas was the best bet out there this year at cornerback.

2. Samari Rolle, Baltimore -- One of the most athletic corners in the NFL, Rolle is known for his excellent speed and change of direction, superior hands and coverage instincts. He's a gifted man-coverage defender, whose ability to use his superb body control allows him to make up for mistakes during the course of a play. With Baltimore, he'll make one of the league's perennial top defenses even better, and with Chris McAlister on the other side of the field, Rolle won't always have to draw an opponents top receiver.

But Rolle did come with some question marks this offseason, and that's why he lasted as long as he did on the open market. Arrested last month on a misdemeanor domestic assault charge against his wife, Danisha, Rolle gave teams a character issue to consider. He also was limited to a career-low 12 games last year, with an injured left knee that required arthroscopic surgery. Throw in the concerns that Kansas City had about his congenital narrowing of the spinal column -- and Rolle did suffer two neck and spinal injuries in seven seasons in Tennessee -- and there's at least reason to wonder if Rolle has already played his best football.

Rolle won't be 29 until August, and his six-year, $30.5 million (including $11 million to sign) deal was in line with market standards. But entering his eighth year in the league, with some health and off-field issues on the radar screen, some teams wouldn't have touched him at those prices.