DALLAS — The Houston Texans have money to spend when free agency begins Friday, but they're in no hurry to spend it.

        Not after the expansion draft. The Texans were required to spend a minimum of $27 million in contracts of unprotected players. But owner Bob McNair splurged last week, claiming more than $40million in the contracts of 19 players.

        That was a turnaround from 1999, when Cleveland's approach to its expansion draft was to take low-profile players with low contracts, thereby saving its money for free agency.

        The Browns then signed 14 free agents, spending $16.075 million of their $57.2 million salary cap in salaries and another $19.775 million in signing bonuses. Both were record expenditures in the NFL free agency era.

        In 1995, when the Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars arrived as expansion teams, they also spent heavily in free agency.

        The Panthers signed 18 free agents, spending $13.428 million of their $37.1 million salary cap in salaries and another $11.345 million in signing bonuses. The Jaguars signed 11 free agents, spending $8.25 million of their cap in salaries and another $8.25 million in signing bonuses.

        Back then, free agency appeared to be the way to go to build a competitive team in a hurry. But that's no longer the case.

        “This is the thinnest free agent group that there's ever been,” Texans general manager Charley Casserly said.

        The Texans figured they could get better players in the expansion draft at fixed prices than by bidding on free agents in an open market.

        So they focused their energy on Monday's draft and used their first nine picks on veteran starters. Another handful of players from their final 10 selections could win starting spots.

        Pro Bowl tackle Tony Boselli was better than any free agent blocker. Gary Walker was better than any defensive tackle, Aaron Glenn better than any cornerback. So Houston claimed them and their million-dollar contracts.

        The Texans still should be active in free agency — with more than $25 million left in the bank — but not to a point where they are going to drive up prices as the Browns, Panthers and Jaguars did.

        Frankly, the Texans liked what they saw in the expansion draft better than what they see in free agency, which begins March 2.

        “The trend at the beginning of free agency was to let your players go into free agency and tell them if they got an offer, come back to you before they did anything,” Casserly said. “Clearly what happened is the players didn't come back. They got the offers they wanted in free agency and signed them, so teams lost players.

        “The tendency early in free agency was to overpay free agents,” Casserly said. “Now we've come full cycle. Teams will overpay their own players to keep them.” That's where we are right now; teams have put an emphasis on re-signing their own players.”

        Once upon a time you could pluck an incumbent Pro Bowler in free agency such as Reggie White, Kevin Greene, Ken Norton, Will Wolford, Richard Dent, Seth Joyner, Eric Allen, Mark Stepnoski or Eric Davis.

        But this off-season, only two of the 84 players selected to the 2002 Pro Bowl are unrestricted free agents: guard Ron Stone of the New York Giants and center Olin Kreutz of the Chicago Bears.

        Clearly, teams are no longer allowing their best players to change teams in free agency. They aren't even allowing the merely good players to leave.

        The Cowboys placed a franchise tag on offensive tackle Flozell Adams last week, as did the Arizona Cardinals on safety Kwamie Lassiter. Neither player has ever been to a Pro Bowl, but Adams now stands to earn $4.9 million in 2002, Lassiter $3.3 million. Denver and New England slapped their franchise tags on kickers.

        As the quality of players in free agency has dipped, the number of players changing teams has declined. In 1995, a record 171 players changed teams in free agency. Only 93 players changed teams in 2001 — and the talent pool is even thinner this year.

        This year's most attractive free agents: defensive end Leonard Little, middle linebacker London Fletcher and wide receiver Az Hakim of the St. Louis Rams; safeties Lance Schulters of the San Francisco 49ers and Shaun Williams of the New York Giants, and running back Antowain Smith of the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.

        RAIDERS:

        The team made Barry Sims one of the NFL's highest-paid left offensive tackles by signing him to a contract extension worth about $25 million Friday. Sims, 27, started all but one of Oakland's 18 games last season and 33 over his three NFL seasons.

        CARRUTH UPDATE:

        Former Carolina wide receiver Rae Carruth, convicted last year of plotting the murder of his pregnant girlfriend, spent 10 days in solitary confinement after a prison fight over a pen in Charlotte, N.C. He was allowed out of his cell only to shower and exercise.

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