Market awaits buyers

The NFL emporium is open for business -- the free-agency signing period began at the strike of midnight EST Friday -- but there aren’t likely to be lines in the checkout aisles.

The shelves aren’t stocked with in-demand free agents, teams will be reluctant to part with draft picks with an unusually strong class of prospects heading into the league, and the uncertainty of the labor situation has everyone clutching their wallets.

The most intriguing aspect of this free-agency season could be the conspicuous lack of intrigue.

There are a few big names likely to be snapped up quickly -- Carolina’s Julius Peppers, Arizona’s Karlos Dansby and Houston’s Dunta Robinson among them -- but the rules of the uncapped year, which also began Friday, mean some players who were expecting big paydays will instead have to wait.

With no salary cap, it takes six years of service instead of four to become an unrestricted free agent. That means players with four and five seasons are restricted free agents, and their current teams would receive draft picks as compensation or have the right to match another team’s offer.

That means players such as San Diego’s Shawne Merriman and Vincent Jackson; Denver’s Elvis Dumervil; Dallas’ Miles Austin; Miami’s Ronnie Brown; and Houston’s DeMeco Ryans will have to wait for their blockbuster deals, if they ever come.

“Speechless today,” Merriman tweeted recently after learning the Chargers had put a price tag on him that would cost suitors a first-round and third-round draft pick to sign him. That’s likely to keep him in San Diego when all signs were pointing to him playing for another team, with a hefty contract, this upcoming season.

“Business is business,” he continued on Twitter, “but some things just aren’t right.”

Even though there’s no salary cap, teams cannot spend with abandon. For instance, the new rules dictate that last season’s conference finalists -- the Colts, Jets, Vikings and Saints -- must lose an unrestricted free agent before they can sign one.

Thomas Dimitroff, general manager of the Atlanta Falcons, said there seems to be a lot more emphasis on draft preparation, and less on evaluating free agents, than is typical of this time of year.

“I believe there is going to be that much more contemplation to see who actually pulls the trigger” in free agency, he said.

That’s not to say there won’t be players changing teams. That is always going to happen.

“If there’s players out there we think can help us, we’ll definitely go after them,” Philadelphia GM Tom Heckert said. “That’s our plan. I don’t think we’re going to sign 12 guys, but if there’s players out there we think can help us we’ll go after them.”

Some of the players likely to generate the most interest on the open market:

Peppers: Carolina’s career sacks leader and five-time Pro Bowl defensive end was too expensive for the Panthers but isn’t likely to linger long as a free agent. (Carolina would have had to pay him $20.1 million as a franchise player in 2010.) He could wind up in Chicago, Seattle, Washington, New England or elsewhere.

Dansby: Miami and Washington could find themselves in a bidding war for the services of the Cardinals’ Dansby, who has never made a Pro Bowl but is the best linebacker available. He’s not an elite player, although he expects to be paid like one. Losing him is tough for Arizona, which also released free safety Antrel Rolle and must retool its defense.

Robinson: Houston made cornerback Robinson its franchise player last year but chose not to do so again. A first-round pick in 2004, he is the Texans’ career interceptions leader with 13. NFL Network reported Thursday that the Falcons have zeroed in on him.

Darren Sharper: The Saints are going to let their ball-hawking safety test the market, even though they ultimately want him back. They signed him to a bargain-basement deal a year ago ($1.7 million for last season). There’s a market for safeties, but his options are limited at age 34.

Chester Taylor: Is Taylor a No. 1 running back? We’ll see. Adrian Peterson’s understudy is going to get a chance to test his value. There are a lot of teams that could use a good ballcarrier, but there are also a lot of backs out there likely to generate interest, including fading superstars LaDainian Tomlinson and Brian Westbrook.

Terrell Owens: The clock is winding down on this well-traveled receiver, who played out his one-year contract with Buffalo. The most likely landing spots are Baltimore and Cincinnati. The Bengals will be looking for a receiver, having released Laveranues Coles on Thursday after one season.

Leigh Bodden: New England challenged Bodden to prove last season that he was worth more than the one-year deal he received. He did, becoming their best cornerback. Now, he’s the second-best on the market to Robinson. Bodden is reliable -- underrated, maybe -- but is not a shutdown cornerback.

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