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Clayton: Why Super Bowl contenders have sat on free-agency sidelines

The best play in NFL free agency is to be in position to pass.

Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson might take criticism for his hands-off approach to the frenzy of free agency, but the Packers are in the Super Bowl hunt every year. Baltimore Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome mastered the game of turning lost free agents into mounds of compensatory draft picks, and the Ravens just had their first losing season -- an injury-dominated one -- since Kyle Boller was taking snaps. The Pittsburgh Steelers, Seattle Seahawks and Carolina Panthers do their best to stay out of free agency and invest their time drafting players and hitting on street free agents (players who were released before the end of their contracts).