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One of the theories at the outset of this year's free-agent signing period was that most teams would adhere to the New England Patriots paradigm, a system that has accentuated acquiring role players by signing them to modest contracts and then creating a way for those veterans to contribute.

Less than a week into the signing period, fueled by a cornerback market in which teams frivolously overpaid for several coverage players of dubious pedigree, the blueprint was obsolete. In a league where imitation is typically the sincerest form of flattery, and where the formula used by the defending Super Bowl champion typically becomes every other franchise's road map to success, the usual copycat mind-set was misplaced. Three months into free agency, the Patriots Path has become The Road to Perdition, it seems.

Uh, for the most part, that is.

There are a few teams that have spent frugally, other franchises that have invested zero on veteran free agents, some that have at least attempted to exercise some semblance of fiscal responsibility. But no two clubs have adhered more intimately to the New England system than the Tampa Bay Bucs and the New York Giants, each of which has brought in veterans by the truckload, but has done so without having to back a Brink's armored car to the nearest bank vault.

Maybe it wasn't a conscious exercise on the part of the two teams, but there had to be a modicum of planning involved, and it had to include a few pages from the manual used by coach Bill Belichick and personnel chief Scott Pioli in New England. For the Giants, it meant turning back the pages a bit to 2000, when the club signed graybeards like Glenn Parker and Lomas Brown and the two contributed mightily to an NFC title.

At last count the Bucs had either signed or claimed on waivers 22 veteran players. The investment includes just $13.82 million in signing bonuses, $26.95 million in total '04 compensation for the players, and only $14.46 million in cap room. The total does not include the $2 million in base salary the Bucs will pay wide receiver Joey Galloway, who was acquired in the trade that sent Keyshawn Johnson to the Dallas Cowboys.

The Giants, who in recent weeks seemed to sign a player every day, have imported 18 new veterans at a 2004 cost of approximately $24 million. That includes about $14.6 million in bonuses, but an investment of roughly $12.8 million in cap space. That's an average of only about $700,000 per newcomer, a small price to pay, especially to bolster a roster that a year ago suffered from lack of depth. Of course, the Giants, who next week figure to add quarterback Kurt Warner after his release by St. Louis, aren't quite done yet.

No prognosticator is likely to suggest either team is a favorite to appear in Super Bowl XXXIX. There is, though, a motive to the madness of adding so many veteran players in such wholesale fashion, and the method could pay off for a pair of teams attempting to rebound from dashed 2003 expectations. The rationale: On occasion in the NFL, you actually get more than what you paid for, and Bucs and Giants officials hope to uncover some viable contributors from among the imports.

Hey, a bargain is a bargain, no matter the category. So you spend a little money, maybe find a character player or two who can help you for a year, and it improves the product.

Take the Giants' latest acquisition, for example, 10-year veteran safety Brent Alexander. The dollar figures aren't in yet on the four-year contract Alexander signed Thursday, but they are not expected to be gaudy, with probably a cap charge in the $1-million area. The knock on Alexander in Pittsburgh was that he had lost a step. But for a palatable amount, the Giants get a safety who had four interceptions each of the last three seasons (the top New York thief in 2003 had two pickoffs), has never missed a game in his career, and probably still has enough savvy to be effective for at least one more season.

New York doled out five signing bonuses of seven figures, the largest being $4 million in up-front money to defensive tackle Fred Robbins, but will probably get seven or eight new starters from the 18-player influx. The defensive line, where the club signed five veteran free agents, is considerably deeper. Barrett Green is an emerging linebacker and clearly an upgrade. An offensive line in need of repair got two experienced blockers in Barry Stokes and Shaun O'Hara, not great players, but guys who have lined up as starters.

Said one Giants assistant: "All I know is we're better now than when we got here."

Maybe even more notable is the remaking of the Tampa Bay roster, an infusion that all but rivals the influx of immigrants to the U.S. shores seven decades ago, but which cost the Bucs very little, well, bucks. Everyone knew that when general manager Rich McKay exited the Bucs, coach Jon Gruden, a guy who never met an aging veteran he didn't want to acquire, would be like the little kid set loose in a candy store. But because of the club's cap constraints, Gruden and new general manager Bruce Allen were forced to shop at what we used to call the "penny candy" counter, instead of ogling the pricey chocolate-covered truffles of free agency.

The skeptics, who insist Gruden and Allen invested heavily in the NFL equivalent of the junk-bond market, might ultimately be correct in that assessment. But the Bucs probably gained seven new starters, four of them on the offensive line, and shook up a locker room that had become too staid.

Only four new players got seven-figure signing bonuses. Thirteen of the Bucs additions received $100,000 or less in up-front money and a half-dozen got zero signing bonus cash. Of the 22 imports, just two have 2004 base salaries higher than the league minimum that matches their NFL tenure. The average cap charge for the newcomers is just $657,000.

For sure, Tampa Bay might have gone a tad overboard on some older veterans, such as offensive linemen Todd Steussie and Derrick Deese and tailback Charlie Garner. But landing younger players like linebacker Ian Gold and cornerback Mario Edwards, who will make just $3.5 million between them in '04, was at least a mini-coup.

So it is good to see, as free agency winds down, that at least a few franchises borrowed some elements of the Patriots' blueprint. While it's true in the NFL that youth must be served, it's also a truism that veterans must at least be serviceable.

The bet here is that the Bucs and Giants each found a few free-agent acquisitions who will fit that category in 2004.

Around the league

	George

A few years ago agent Peter Schaffer casually remarked, without malice (we think), that the Tennessee Titans would have to deal with him and partner Lamont Smith when they needed cap relief at some point in the future. Talk about a self-fulfilling prophecy. Schaffer and Smith represent three of the five Titans veterans with 2004 salary cap charges in excess of $5 million: cornerback Samari Rolle ($8.813 million), tailback Eddie George ($7.321 million) and wide receiver Derrick Mason ($5.802 million). With the Titans only $1.097 million under the spending limit, and in dire need of cap funds to eventually sign their 13 draft choices, the signs are that George will be released sometime after June 1. All three of the Smith-Schaffer clients were outspoken last summer about the rather shabby treatment of middle linebacker Randall Godfrey, released by Tennessee last June despite having earlier accepted a pay cut he felt secured him a roster spot. At least two of the veterans cited the Godfrey case this year in explaining why they were not inclined to accept contract restructuring. None of this is to suggest that the three veterans, just because they share representation, are acting in concert. To the contrary, like most agents, Schaffer and Smith don't allow a team's dealings with one client to color their negotiations with another. But there are some NFL franchises where one or two agents have multiple clients on the club, and where their representation provides them more clout than most outsiders should possess. In the case of the Titans, there are only a few phone numbers general manager Floyd Reese can call to try to find someone willing to afford the Titans some cap space, and the Smith-Schaffer number is probably on speed-dial. Unfortunately, for the Titans, the line is busy.

Part of the job of every agent is to make sure he comprehends the landscape of the market before he advises any client to reject a contract restructuring that might result in a pink slip. And Smith certainly sounded this week, in remarks to Tennessee-area papers, that he was confident George will have viable suitors when the Titans cut him loose. So who will be the teams that consider George once he is unemployed and in the free-agent market? And will the eight-year veteran, who hasn't registered an average per-carry mark of more than 4.0 yards since 1999, be able to approximate in 2004 the $2-$2.5 million the Titans offered him earlier this offseason under a reworked deal? On both counts, paraphrasing Horace Greeley here, George might look West, young man. And it won't be surprising if the Oakland Raiders, who have more reclamation successes on their resume than any of those fix-it shows aired on TLC and HGTV cable channels, look to George as a possible workhorse in coach Norv Turner's power running game system. Despite its effort to upgrade the tailback spot, Oakland can't be convinced that any of its current backs are superior to George, even given his slippage of the last couple of seasons. Tyrone Wheatley is 32 years old now and three seasons removed from his one and only 1,000-yard season in the NFL. Second-year pro Justin Fargas, who logged just 40 carries as a rookie, might not be ready to take over the job full-time. J.R. Redmond is just a third-down back. Two recently added veteran free agents, Amos Zereoue (Pittsburgh) and Troy Hambrick (Dallas), are more stopgaps and not solutions. The upshot: One Raiders assistant termed George "interesting" this week when asked for an assessment of the Tennessee veteran. Let's face it, Al Davis loves veteran guys, and George remains one of the league's classiest profiles. Oakland doesn't have a lot of cap room remaining after the addition of Kerry Collins, but the Raiders always find a way to carve out space when it's needed, and they probably won't have to break the bank for George, who was to have earned a base salary of $4.25 million under his Titans contract. By the way, the Raiders didn't exactly have monumental payouts for Zereoue and Hambrick. Each signed a one-year contract with a signing bonus of $25,000 and base salary of $535,000.

The pending release of George -- and there is no word yet as to when he will officially be lopped from the roster -- will thrust another veteran into an already glutted contingent of unemployed running backs. The roll call of tailbacks still trying to land a camp contract includes players such as Antowain Smith (New England), James Stewart (Detroit), Stacey Mack (Houston) and Dorsey Levens (New York Giants). Interest has been pretty sparse for the group, although a few teams are starting to nibble around Smith, and it certainly appears some of the backs will be left in the cold come the opening of camps. Hard to believe, even coming off an injury that cost him the entire season, that some teams in need of a veteran backup and solid locker room presence wouldn't offer Stewart a minimum-salary deal. The entry of George into the market will make things even tighter. There is, by the way, no assurance George will be released quickly after June 1. The Titans don't need the cap relief his exit will provide until they begin signing draft picks. And general manager Floyd Reese has historically been a guy who doesn't open negotiations until mid-July, a week or two before camp starts.

	Clarett

Contrary to rumors, sources close to former Ohio State tailback and NFL draft reject Maurice Clarett insist he is not negotiating a deal to play in the CFL, and will instead just continue his court battle against the NFL's current eligibility rules. "The way it looks now, all he can do is sit for a year, get himself into shape, and got into the ['05] draft," said one source. As for Southern California wide receiver Mike Williams, an unwitting victim of sorts in the whole draft matter, athletic department officials have said they will do whatever they can to help him regain NCAA eligibility. That will be easier said than done, though, since Williams needs nine credits to regain academic eligibility. He can get those credits in the second summer semester at USC, but it won't be easy, since even nine credits are considered a fairly ambitious summer class load. Summer classes are condensed and typically meet at least four times a week, as opposed to two or three sessions during a normal fall or winter semester.

Make no mistake about it, the Thursday hip surgery on Carolina Panthers offensive linemen Bruce Nelson, which could sideline him up to the start of training camp and perhaps beyond, is a blow to the defending NFC champions. Nelson was a second-round pick from Iowa in the 2003 draft, but nagging injuries limited him to one start. There is no denying, though, the Carolina coaches love Nelson's aggressiveness, and he would certainly have vied this year for a starting spot at guard on a rebuilt unit. The hip surgery, depending on rehabilitation time, could prevent him the chance to start. The current projected starters at guard, not regarded by the Panthers as a priority position but one where they need to replace departed starters Kevin Donnalley and Jeno James, are Doug Brzezinski and Tutan Reyes. The latter has appeared in one regular-season game during his four-year league tenure. Brzezinski, signed last spring as an unrestricted free agent, has 22 starts on his resume, but only six over the last four seasons.

The three-year, $9 million contract that prodigal son wide receiver Dennis Northcutt signed with the Cleveland Browns last weekend could be more of a short-lived truce than a long-term commitment. Northcutt received a $2.25 million signing bonus and his base salary for 2004 is $750,000. In essence, while he quadrupled what we would have made under his former contract, the $3 million Northcutt will earn in '04 is still much less than he would have gotten in the offer he rejected during last season. And there is this caveat with the new deal: It could turn out to be for just one season. Northcutt is due a roster bonus of $2 million next spring and, if he isn't productive this season or displays any residual hard feelings or acrimony toward the Browns, the team might not be inclined to make that payment. The contract calls for base salaries of $1 million each in 2005-2006 and workout bonuses of $250,000 apiece for those years. In addition to the roster bonus due next spring, there is another of $1.5 million due in the spring of 2006.

Speaking of the Browns, they made a modest but solid move this week in extending the contract of veteran tight end Steve Heiden by three years. The deal, which now keeps the unheralded Heiden under contract through 2007, was worth $2.76 million in so-called "new money" for the five-year veteran. Heiden was to have earned a base salary of $625,000 for 2004. Instead, he received a $900,000 signing bonus and base salaries of $535,000 (for 2004), $600,000 (2005), $675,000 (2006) and $675,000 (2007). Heiden figures to get at least two years out of the deal, enough time for Cleveland coaches to perhaps convince first-round draft choice Kellen Winslow that blocking is actually part of the tight end job description in the NFL. Heiden isn't a super-talented player, but he is the kind of blue-collar guy coach Butch Davis wants to have around.

	Kearse

Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson, who all but ran out of defensive ends in 2003, has to be a happy guy right now. The Eagles, of course, signed Jevon Kearse in free agency. Even in a 2003 campaign when he played hurt, Kearse had only one-half sack less than the 10 recorded by the Philadelphia ends. But the upgrade of the position extends beyond just the Kearse addition. Derrick Burgess, projected as a starter two years ago, but a player star crossed by injuries, looks like he might make it back from foot surgeries and an Achilles problem. A pair of 2003 draft choices who played in seven combined games as rookies because of injuries, first-rounder Jerome McDougle and fourth-rounder Jamaal Green, appear healthy. It could mean a deep end corps for the crafty Johnson, one in which N.D. Kalu, perhaps miscast as a starter, will become more a situational pass rusher.

Although it didn't get much attention at the league meetings in Jacksonville earlier this week, the NFL made it tougher for owners to buy into franchises in other sports. In the past, it was only principal NFL owners who could not own teams in other cities. At the Jacksonville meeting, the cross-ownership rule was extended to include any minority owners in an NFL team who are "on the path" to principal ownership. And owners' family members are now precluded as well from owning sports franchises in other NFL cities or in markets regarded as potential NFL cities.

Defensive tackle John Parrella helped the Oakland Raiders create some of the cap room necessary to sign Kerry Collins by reworking his contract. The 11-year veteran reduced his 2003 base salary from a scheduled $3.1 million to $1.85 million. For doing so, the club guaranteed $1 million of the difference, essentially in up-front money. The result: Parrella, who figures to be used in a rotation that maximizes his snaps, takes a pay cut of just $250,000. The Raiders, on the other hand, got $1 million in cap relief, with the charge for Parrella going from $3.992 million to $2.992 million.

	Connell

Remember former Washington and New Orleans wide receiver Albert Connell, essentially drummed out of the league after being charged with stealing money from the pants and truck of former Saints teammate Deuce McAllister? Well, Connell is in his second training camp with the Calgary Stampeders of the CFL, coming off an injury-plagued 2003 campaign. Seems that, even going north of the border, Connell hasn't been able to change his spots. A guy with a hair-trigger temper, and what might kindly be termed an attitude problem, Connell was involved in a pretty nasty practice fight this week. Seems he was the third man into the fray, allegedly protecting fellow wideout Wane McGarity in a heated melee that apparently looked more like a bench-clearing hockey brawl. So much for Connell's alleged rehabilitation.

As of Friday morning, there was $155.045 million in aggregate salary cap room left in the league, an average of $4.845 million per franchise. But the average is bolstered by eight teams that each have more than $7 million of available space. Those teams are: New Orleans ($11.606 million), Philadelphia ($10.346 million), Dallas ($10.251 million), New York Giants ($8.675 million), Detroit ($7.995 million), Jacksonville ($7.859 million), Arizona ($7.764 million) and San Diego ($7.023 million).

Stat of the week: Eleven-year veteran wide receiver Curtis Conway, signed by San Francisco to a one-year contract on Wednesday, has 556 career catches for 7,827 yards and 49 touchdowns. There are 13 other wide receivers on the 49ers current roster and they have combined for just 29 receptions, 378 yards and three touchdowns. Of that group, 11 have never caught a pass in a regular-season game. Last year alone, playing with the New York Jets, Conway had more catches (46) and yards (640) than the aggregate total of the other receivers on the San Francisco roster.

Punts: We're not much into book reviews here but, if you're looking for an easy summer read, then you might try "A Face in the Crowd: My Life as an NFL Wife." The author is Nicole Berti, the wife of former NFL journeyman offensive lineman Tony Berti. Mrs. Berti isn't afraid to take on some of the NFL's sacred cows, and some head coaches and organizations, as well. … It still is a long shot, but don't write off yet the possibility the Atlanta Falcons will acquire San Diego quarterback Drew Brees. The Falcons thought they had a deal done during the draft but it fell apart. Word is, though, the Chargers might be inclined to reconsider. … In the 1999-2003 drafts Seattle took 17 defensive players and at the end of the '03 campaign none was a starter. Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren, by the way, has debunked rumors his team will sign middle linebacker Jeremiah Trotter when the two-time Pro Bowl performer is released by Washington next week. … Former University of Minnesota tight end Ben Utecht, signed by Indianapolis as an undrafted free agent, could miss his entire rookie season after recent groin surgery. Utecht was highly regarded, certainly among the top half-dozen tight end prospects in the lottery, until scouts discovered he would require the surgery. The Colts signed him anyway, giving him a signing bonus of $20,000, the second-highest paid to any undrafted player, and view him as an investment that will pay future dividends. … Defensive end Tony Brackens, released earlier in the offseason by Jacksonville, continues to discuss a possible return to the Jaguars, albeit at a much lower salary. There are a few other clubs, however, in need of a situational pass rush end, and snooping around Brackens as a possible pre-camp acquisition. … Bengals second-year left guard Eric Steinbach, one of the NFL's top rookies in 2003, recently had surgery on his left elbow. The procedure, similar in nature to Tommy John surgery endured by many baseball pitchers, has left Steinbach pain-free for the first time in several seasons.

The last word: "Since we have been [in Indianapolis], we have seen the corporate world going backwards, losing some key corporations. As we're looking at the studies, it's really questionable if a new stadium can help solve the dilemma, because you already have as good a team as you're ever going to have in terms of superstars and winning. And, at the same time, it doesn't seem like there's much ability to gain a lot more. From my standpoint, it's more [about] how much can you keep putting your own money into your franchise, with no hope of seeing things change." -- Colts owner Jim Irsay on the viability of the franchise in Indianapolis from a long-term standpoint.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.