Every year when free agency starts, it seems Daniel Snyder has the Washington Redskins' plane fueled and ready to swoop into a rival's city and return with a prized free agent.

Except most of those prizes turned out to be duds. That's one reason the Redskins ended last season $20 million over the salary cap and have spent the last few weeks cutting duds and restructuring the contracts of players they want to keep.

When free agency 2008 starts at midnight tonight, few teams are inclined to splurge, having learned there rarely are players available that can turn a franchise into an instant winner.

In fact, the opposite is true. As Snyder learned the hard way, it's self destructive to pay $35 million to a limited player with a "name," as the Redskins did with Adam Archuleta two years ago. Archuleta went from starting strong safety to third string in less than a season and now is in Chicago.

More savvy teams have known for a decade the best way to succeed is to draft well and re-sign your own players.

Indianapolis, for example, let a bunch of defensive starters go last year, yet got much better there. One was cornerback Jason David, who fit Indy's "Tampa Two" but was beaten regularly after getting a four-year, $15.6 million contract from New Orleans.

The Saints are again looking for a cornerback.

This year, the Colts have spent the postseason re-signing safety Bob Sanders, the 2007 defensive player of the year, tight end Dallas Clark and guard Ryan Lilja.

"The net is that we've got Bob on a long-term contract, we've got Dallas on a long-term contract and we've got Ryan on a long-term contract. So we've had a hell of a free agency year," says team president Bill Polian, whose two decades of success in Buffalo, Carolina and Indianapolis make him the NFL's anti-Snyder.

Another example are the New York Giants, who a year ago signed one free agent of note, midlevel linebacker Kawika Mitchell and only for a year.

However, all eight Giants draft picks made the team and six contributed significantly to the team's surprising run to a Super Bowl victory.

Mitchell is a free agent again and may not be re-signed because New York has another linebacker in the wings, Gerris Wilkinson, a third-rounder in 2006 who has been impressive when healthy. And the Giants have tied up two of their most important young players, pass rushers Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck long term.

The Giants also could lose safety Gibril Wilson and linebacker Reggie Torbor, who filled in admirably when Matthias Kiwanuka was injured. Like most smart teams, the Giants offer what they think players are worth and let them walk if they ask for too much.