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NFL teams hoping to rebuild in a hurry — hello, Jets! — aren’t going to be able to do it in free agency.
At least not this year.
Unlike last year, when the Broncos turned themselves into an AFC power overnight with the addition of Peyton Manning, this year’s crop is considered woefully short in most areas when it comes to difference-makers.
There are big names already on the market because of salary-cap cuts or set to hit it when free agency opens Tuesday, but almost all are up in age and — in the case of players like Osi Umenyiora and Dwight Freeney — would be a lot more attractive if this were, say, 2009 and not 2013.
And don’t get NFL scouts or general managers started when it comes this year to the most important position of all. The fact Jason Campbell and Rex Grossman are considered the two most viable free-agent options at quarterback speaks volumes.
“Teams are going to be careful [approaching this year’s free-agent class],” Colts GM Ryan Grigson said. “If you want to sustain success, you can’t start with guys that are on the wrong side of 30. That’s just the truth. You have to have some youth with some vets splashed in.”
It’s not difficult to figure out what is shaping this year’s crop of veterans — the cap. That cap will rise slightly to $123 million this year, but that is well below the pre-lockout cap of $128 million in 2009. It also isn’t expected to grow significantly for at least another four years because of the terms of the most recent labor agreement.
Talk of a “flat cap” is all the rage among executives and agents, and not in a good way. It has made keeping good teams together much more difficult for the executives (just ask the Ravens), while making it much more difficult for higher-paid veterans to find jobs.
Money figured heavily, if not totally, into the decision to let many of the top free agents hit the market — particularly Steelers wide receiver Mike Wallace, Lions defensive end Cliff Avril and Dolphins offensive tackle Jake Long.
It isn’t just limited to players eligible for unrestricted free agency. Rather than sign Victor Cruz to an expensive long-term deal, the Giants opted instead to gauge his value as a restricted free agent.
That means the talented young receiver could get away if another team is willing to surrender a first-round pick, and there already is talk the receiver-needy Rams might do exactly that.
The cap isn’t just driving free-agency decisions, either. Teams also have released several highly paid, yet still talented, veterans because of the strain of a lower salary limit.
More attractive talent, in fact, is hitting the market through cap cuts than through scheduled free agency. The market is a lot more interesting now that the likes of Freeney, John Abraham, Ahmad Bradshaw and Chris Gamble are available due to the previous team’s cap woes.
There is a definite flip side to that, however. Those same cap problems will prevent the vast majority of teams from giving them close to their true value or even signing them at all.
Though that’s good news for outliers like the Dolphins, Browns, Chiefs and Patriots, all of whom chose to hoard huge amounts of cap room, it means free agency will be uneventful to the point of boring for most clubs.
“With the way the cap is, you have to develop your talent for the most part and not buy it [in free agency],” Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff said. “The draft is the name of the game now.
bhubbuch@nypost.com