01:00 AM EST on Tuesday, March 14, 2006

BY TOM E. CURRAN
Journal Sports Writer

So far in free agency, the New England Patriots haven't exactly knocked anyone's socks off.

As team after team signs player after player (does 20 percent of the league now play for Washington?), the Pats exhibit good, old Yankee thrift. They're letting the market settle. Waiting until the lines go down. Just looking, thanks.

Yesterday, the Patriots lopped Chad Brown from their roster, saving another $1 million in cap space. They have nearly $20 million of room with which to sign players. Yet, no players.

Meanwhile, kicker Adam Vinatieri weighs options that don't include the Pats, Willie McGinest's caller ID hasn't shown a 508 area code yet, David Givens' free-agent tour continues and Matt Chatham, Andre Davis and Christian Fauria all are out the door to the Jets, Bills and Redskins, respectively.

How's that playing in Pawtucket, Pepperell, Portland, Putney and Peterborough? Not so good. "What the (heck), BB?!" and "Have the Pats Thrown in the Towel?" are discussion threads on well-read Patriots message boards.

The Patriots are watching their middle-class players take flight. In addition to Chatham, Davis and Fauria, Tim Dwight and Tom Ashworth continue to interview elsewhere. There's been nary a peep on right guard Stephen Neal, although a Chargers official yesterday quashed a rumor that Neal was headed there. Meanwhile, some players suited to the Patriots' system are flying off the shelves.

Wide receiver Brian Finneran, whose agent initiated talks with the Pats to no avail, signed back in Atlanta and linebacker Scott Fujita, a 250-pounder who plays in the 3-4 and 4-3, signed with New Orleans.

Chances are good the Pats know free agency has started. And they are no doubt clearing that space for someone. But who? And what of the guys they are losing?

Start with the latter question.

Bar the door, the Patriots' special-teamers are under siege!

To be honest, Davis, Chatham and Fauria have minor roles in the regular schemes. Ashworth and Dwight have bigger ones but they are still borderline starters. Givens' leaving would hurt, sure, and he is being courted hard by Tennessee (he visited there yesterday) and Houston. And Vinatieri's departure (he returned a call but refuses to give details) would hurt a lot more. McGinest? It has to end sometime. Neal? Nice player, but replaceable.

In short, the Patriots aren't going to be dealt a crippling blow by any of these departures. One does have to fear the erosion of the club's depth, but a longer look at the roster shows that all those players the Pats kept on the fringes can be replaced.

Vinatieri and Givens represent different issues since New England is letting other teams dictate their terms. That seems a risky idea if they have any notion of retaining them, but the likelihood of that is shrinking by the day.

So what exactly are the Patriots doing? Working to keep Richard Seymour and Deion Branch as they enter the final years of their deal. There were indications of that last week, and since then there's been radio silence from the camps of both players.

New England likes to get players extended early if they plan to keep them. These guys they plan to keep, but the landscape for keeping them keeps changing. For instance, the good but not exceptional Antwaan Randle-El just got a $11.5-million signing bonus the other day. The Patriots are probably going to spend more than that on Branch's bonus and at least twice that on Seymour's.

With $20 million in cap space, socks all over New England will eventually be knocked off by something the Patriots do. But right now it seems like everyone else is having all the fun.

tcurran@projo.com / (401) 277-7340