Teams able to keep good players out of free agency

	Running back Edgerrin James may have been the last big name we'll see in free agency for a while. John W. McDonough/SI
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Is it just me, or does free agency seem, well, not quite as free as it once was? At least in terms of headline names being dumped into the marketplace, sparking the kind of shopping sprees teams like Washington, Cleveland, Denver and others have gone on in recent years.

Check out this year's roster of free agents and it's fairly well devoid of headline names. Not a Reggie White, Deion Sanders or even an Edgerrin James to be found among the players who will be available to start receiving bids as of 12:01 a.m. Friday. Though there are hundreds of free agents, the big names seem fewer and farther between than ever before, and they're led by Bills cornerback Nate Clements and Baltimore linebacker Adalius Thomas, who until last season was nothing more than a quiet little success story for the Ravens.

The reason is obvious, and somewhat ironic. Players have fought to increase the size of the NFL's salary cap, and it has, jumping from $85.5 million in 2005 to a whopping $109 million this year (an increase of 27.5 percent in two years). But the net effect has been that fewer star players actually get to the market these days, because with the added cap room, teams are wisely locking up their best players with either contract extensions or franchise-player tags.

Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney got franchised. So did Bears linebacker Lance Briggs, Patriots cornerback Asante Samuel, Saints defensive end Charles Grant, Bengals defensive end Justin Smith, Lions defensive tackle Cory Redding and Seahawks kicker Josh Brown. And other highly-attractive potential free agents such as Cowboys center Andre Gurode, Bills defensive end Chris Kelsay, Chargers linebacker Shaun Phillips and Chiefs quarterback Damon Huard last week continued the trend of quality players who received contract extensions before they could test the free-agent waters.

It's a win-win for the players, because they're getting paid one way or another, but it has taken some of the juice away from the first phase of this year's NFL talent shopping season. More and more, free agency seems to be taking a backseat to the draft in terms of the buzz factor and its significance in the process of roster building. There are complementary-type players to be had in the market, and some of those will receive blockbuster-type deals because of the cash that's available. But the big-name signings simply aren't there these days.

"It's just such a unique year free agency-wise,'' Rams head coach Scott Linehan said. "With the cap, people's ability to keep their players has been a priority. You saw us do it during the season with Leonard (Little) and Pisa (Tinoisamoa). It makes the pool of players quite a bit less at this point as far as the players we've heard of. There's probably less of a pool of players to choose from, and everybody has more room and ability to keep their own players and not have those casualties you used to have when you ran out of cap room.''