In the ninth year of free agency, more teams are moving to that philosophy. They're finding that the risks of trying to build a team with free agents outweigh the reward. You can go outside to get a guy to help, but he's not going to be a big guy. In this system, there are going to be guys who fall to us. This is not considered a strong year for free agents, which plays into Millen's philosophy of re-signing his own players first.
Nobody is spared from the salary cap.
In San Francisco, Jerry Rice wants to continue playing after 16 seasons, but his salary is too high for the 49ers to accommodate. Cincinnati's Corey Dillon, who has rushed for more than 1,000 yards in his first four seasons, is the best player available. The Bengals have designated him a transition player. That gives them the right to match any offer by another team. Jason Taylor was designated the franchise player, and negotiations began on a long-term deal.