Make the rounds around the league these days, and that is the general feeling about this month's free-wheeling financial ride through the ides of free agency. With the salary cap at $109 million or so - it was a little more than $85 million only two years ago - almost every team was flush with salary-cap room when the signing period opened March 2.

So spend away they have.

And while the dollar signs usually point toward top-of-the- line contracts for top-of-the-line players, there has been plenty of hand-wringing about this year's crop of free agents getting this year's contracts. Just one - newly minted Patriots linebacker Adalius Thomas - was voted to the All-Pro team last season.

Ah, welcome to a little slice of the free market, where supply never meets demand and where the checkbooks run wild and free.

The difficult thing for teams in all of this can be explaining why they did what they did, and the difficult thing for players is dealing with the expectations of greatness that come with what has been an historical spending spree.

But sift through all of the noise about other people's money, and it's fairly clear a decision was made around the league. While the early days of free agency in the late 1990s and even earlier this decade were largely a product of proven players far closer to the end of their careers than the beginning, the trend is now moving toward those who are thought to be closer to the middle of their careers.

A hard-earned lesson of free agency has kicked in again - the one where general managers say you should never pay age.

This year, some of the biggest contracts - $49 million from Buffalo to Derrick Dockery, $49.5 million from Cleveland to Eric Steinbach and $49.6 million from Dallas to Leonard Davis - went to offensive linemen.

Their résumés have been debated over those windfalls, but they are offensive linemen who have been durable for the most part and none of the three has turned 29.

Dockery is just 26 and won't turn 27 until September.

Nobody got a bigger contract this month than cornerback Nate Clements did from the San Francisco 49ers. Clements, the top player at a high-demand position on the open market, got an $80 million deal.

And while the contract is back- loaded with a vengeance - something on the order of more than $26 million worth over the last two years - it still gave Clements a bigger contract than any defensive player in history.

But Clements resides well on the south side of 30. He is 27 and won't turn 28 until December.

Even the Broncos, who have made their allegiances clear to more experienced players in the free-agency era, have done the bulk of their work thus far in the under-30 crowd. Running back Travis Henry is 28 - will be 29 in October - tight end Daniel Graham is 28 and guard Montrae Holland will be 27 in May.

Backup quarterback Patrick Ramsey, a former starter for the Redskins, is 28, and fullback Paul Smith, a coveted special teams player, is 29.

The Broncos did depart from that trend in the signing of receiver Brandon Stokley - he will be 31 in June and is coming off a ruptured Achilles' tendon - and 34-year-old defensive tackle Dan Wilkinson, who may or may not suit up for Denver in the fall.

So while the best players usually never reach the open market, the ones who do are finding it really is a young(er) man's game.

Back in the day

Former Broncos lineman and current ESPN analyst Mark Schlereth might have a bit of a head start when viewing at least one prospect in this year's draft.

Virginia Tech center Dan McGrath, who played the position just two years for the Hokies, played youth baseball with Schlereth's son Daniel when Schlereth played for the Washington Redskins.

Schlereth also helped coach the team.

"He's been a family friend for a long time," Schlereth said. "His father, Tim McGrath, was instrumental in my son's baseball career. One of my son's first, his first, pitching coach. So we developed a good friendship that has lasted through the years.

"Danny's a little bit older than Daniel, my son, but I helped out with their baseball team. And I tried to help him when he started football, footwork and hands, playing offensive line."

Right now, most teams have McGrath, who surrendered just one sack in 2005 in his first year at the position, as a seventh- round pick or a possible undrafted free agent. He had shoulder surgery after the 2005 season as well.

"No question, he's a strong kid," Schlereth said. "He'll play hard, work hard, now it just comes down to opportunity."

Opportunity knocks

With the Colts' first Super Bowl win, the league continues to enjoy an environment in which most teams don't think they are that far from a title. Since the league went to an eight-division format in 2002:

27 of the league's 32 teams have qualified for the playoffs at least once.

22 teams have won division titles.

4 teams have won Super Bowls.

legwoldj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2359