NFL teams have been courting free agents since (at least) midnight, and Washington made the first big move, signing Tennessee DT Albert Haynesworth to a monster contract that includes $41 million in guarantees and could be worth $115 million.

The Lions, meanwhile, have somewhere between $35 and $40 million in cap space to work with — quite a bit of room. There was lots of speculation (including by the Mitten) that the team would go after Haynesworth because of his connection with new Lions coach Jim Schwartz, but at that price, no way.

Drew Sharp argues for Haynesworth at any cost in this morning’s Free Press, and he makes one good point, that a big free agent splash could give the Lions respectablity akin to when the Tigers signed Pudge Rodgriguez following the 2003 debacle. That contract (4 years, $40 million) was also outrageous, Sharp reminds us, but it was the price the Tigers needed to pay in order to attract someone of Pudge’s stature.

Not so fast. Pudge’s contract was outrageous only for him — a Hall of Fame performer clearly on the downslope of his career, at a position (catcher) where dramatic drop-offs at his age are fairly common. The Tigers took a risk and got a great year out of him, followed by a couple of good ones. The parallel for the Lions is not to get into the bidding for the top free agent on the market, but to sign an aging star who isn’t getting what he thinks he’s worth on the open market. A better example would be signing Kurt Warner to a two year deal for $20 million — but that example is a pipe dream, because Warner already has a $10 million-a-year offer on the table from his current team, the Cardinals, who also happen to be coming off of a Super Bowl season.

You need to identify a star who’s not getting the attention you’d expect. At a position of need. Someone like, say, T.J. Houshmanzadeh . . . and sure enough, the Lions are interested.

So I think Martin Mayhew is playing this just right, positioning the Lions to go after mid-level free agents will quietly and nonglamorously upgrade the Lions. The key, of course, is getting guys who can actually play.

Let’s think back over some of the FA signings from the Millen era. In the “splashy” category, you’ve got guys like Fernando Bryant, Dre Bly and Damien Woody. All of those moves made me feel good about the team on the day of the signing, but only Bly made an impact worthy of the hype. In contrast, the guys who’ve actually made a significant impact have come in under the radar — Mike Furrey, Jon Kitna and Stephen Peterman come to mind. They’re not superstars, but those guys came in and represented significant positional upgrades.

And while those guys certainly aren’t sure to succeed (as the Tampa Bay castoff secondary proved last year), they’re a lot less expensive.

One last note: I like that the Lions are trying to trade for a veteran CB. They need two starters and you don’t want two rookies back there, even if they were first rounders — and there’s no indication there’s a CB the Lions are considering at the top of the board. Considering that the FA pool is weak at CB, this seems like a smart move.