INDIANAPOLIS — Free agency doesn’t begin on March 9 with the legal tampering period. It begins in the Starbucks at the JW Marriott. It begins at Prime 47 Steakhouse and Cafe Patachou. It begins in the shadows of a city teeming with football personnel itching to make deals.
This year is no different from any other, with hundreds of agents roaming the streets and buildings of Naptown, trying to gauge the market for star clients and lesser-known names. Meanwhile, general managers are ripping through 20-minute interviews with the upcoming rookie class while ducking out here and there to take a call, set up a meeting and eventually sit down in a few.
