The NFL free-agent season is now two weeks old, and the free-agent smorgasbord has been pretty well picked over. But a few prime players remain on the market. Teams that miss out on the opportunity to fill their holes will be forced to fit part-time players into full-time lineup slots or push draft picks into the spotlight early.

Here’s a look at the top remaining free agents, not including those players who have been retained with the franchise tag but may still be traded, such as St. Louis’s Orlando Pace, Indianapolis’s Edgerrin James, and Seattle’s Shaun Alexander.

PLAXICO BURRESS – WIDE RECEIVER

When former Pittsburgh wide receiver Plaxico Burress looks at himself in a mirror, he sees Terrell Owens. Unfortunately for him, general managers see Peerless Price.

Two years ago, Price parlayed a huge season in Buffalo into a major contract with Atlanta, but he has been dismal since. In the minds of NFL general managers, Price’s failure makes one lesson clear: There are no. 1 receivers and there are no. 2 receivers, and they are not the same. A successful no. 2 can’t necessarily step up into the no. 1 position and thrive without a better teammate to draw away the attention of opposing defenses.

Burress reportedly turned down a six-year, $24 million offer from the Giants because it did not match the best contracts given to free-agent receivers this off-season, but those contracts he wants to match went to receivers – Derrick Mason and Muhsin Muhammad – who are perceived as “number ones.” Burress won’t get a better offer because teams see him as a talented but inconsistent receiver who got open in Pittsburgh when Hines Ward was drawing double coverage.

Having misjudged the market for his services, Burress fired agent Michael Harrison last week and hired uber-agent Drew Rosenhaus. If Rosenhaus can’t work something out with the Giants, Burress may have to take a one-year deal somewhere and try to prove that he’s a no. 1 so he can cash in next year.

But which team will that be? The leading contender, Minnesota, yesterday decided to sign the inferior but cheaper Travis Taylor. Philadelphia may be interested, but playing opposite Owens is no way to prove you’re a no. 1 receiver. Miami is another possibility, but the Dolphins need offensive linemen, not wide receivers.

Burress has one thing in his favor: The drop-off from him to the other available receivers is pretty steep. David Terrell was a first-round washout, Troy Brown is past his prime, and Ike Hilliard is past his past-prime.

EDGERTON HARTWELL – LINEBACKER
MARQUES DOUGLAS – DEFENSIVE END

These former Baltimore Ravens are the two best remaining defensive free agents. Hartwell’s forte is stuffing the run, and he shows a great awareness for where the ball is on every play. He supposedly is asking for a signing bonus of more than $10 million. This is probably the reason he remains unsigned. The Giants passed him up to sign Antonio Pierce, the Chiefs went with Kendrell Bell, and while Hartwell expressed interest in joining New England, the Patriots have no interest in paying that signing bonus.

Given how much players on the Ravens defense like to talk about themselves, it seems ridiculous that any of them could be underrated, and yet Douglas qualifies. He emerged undrafted out of Howard University and worked his way into the starting lineup of one of the NFL’s best defenses.

Douglas is considered slightly undersized for his position (6-foot-2, 290 pounds) but makes up for it with outstanding technique; his 96 tackles and six sacks are impressive for a defensive lineman playing in a 3-4 scheme. And unlike Hartwell, his salary requests are not rumored to be exorbitant.

Rumors link both Hartwell and Douglas with Cleveland, no surprise since ex-Baltimore personnel guy Phil Savage is now the Browns’ general manager and the team is switching to a 3-4 scheme under new head coach Romeo Crennel. Seattle, another team with major defensive needs, is also interested in Hartwell and if they aren’t interested in Douglas, they should be.

TY LAW – CORNERBACK

Former New England cornerback Ty Law would easily top this year’s list of free agents if they were ranked according to value as of last September. But when Law broke his foot in a Week 8 loss to Pittsburgh last year, he quickly went from perennial Pro Bowler to huge question mark.

Law is at least a month away from even being able to take a physical, much less take the field. His injury, called a Lis Franc fracture, is particularly difficult to heal, and no player in his 30s (Law is 31) has ever returned from a similar injury to play at a high level.

Law would like to play for his hometown Steelers, but Pittsburgh doesn’t need to spend money on its secondary. Kansas City, desperate for defense and perhaps willing to take a chance on Law’s injury, is a more logical destination. Cleveland is also a possibility because of Law’s connection with Crennel, his former defensive coordinator in New England.

Law was the NFL’s highest-paid cornerback last year with a salary over $6 million, but questions about his foot likely mean he’ll have to accept a much smaller contract with plenty of incentives.

Another talented free agent with a Lis Franc injury, though not one quite as severe, is Philadelphia tight end Chad Lewis. Apparently, Lewis will either return to Philadelphia or retire.

ANDRE DYSON – CORNERBACK
KELLY HERNDON – CORNERBACK

For teams unwilling to take a risk on Law, Andre Dyson provides a strong second-level option. Dyson played well during his first three seasons in Tennessee before the Titans’ defense imploded in 2004. But those problems owed less to a decline in Dyson’s ability than to injuries in the front seven that left the Titans’ defensive backs without a pass rush to help them out.

A more intriguing signing would be restricted Broncos free agent Kelly Herndon. Because Denver is more interested in retaining another restricted free-agent cornerback, Lenny Walls, they are unlikely to match an offer for Herndon once the bidding hits a certain point. Nor are the Broncos due any compensatory draft picks from the team that signs him away, since they offered Herndon the lowest-level restricted free agent contract.

Passes defensed isn’t always the best stat to compare cornerbacks, since different teams count this stat in different ways, but it is worth noting that Herndon had nearly twice as many passes defensed as better-known teammate Champ Bailey.

Besides the Chiefs, teams that may be looking for cornerbacks include the Jets, Washington, and Indianapolis.

OFFENSIVE LINEMEN

The top left tackle, Jonas Jennings, was plucked from the free-agent pool pretty quickly by San Francisco, but plenty of guards and right tackles remain available.

The top guard is Rick DeMulling of Indianapolis, who apparently was last in line when the Colts ran out of money for their offense. Buffalo, Detroit, and Baltimore have all been looking at the talented DeMulling.

At right tackle, the top remaining free agents are Stockar McDougle of Detroit and Victor Riley of New Orleans. Neither of those teams is known for a particularly strong offensive line, and both feature running backs who get stuffed at the line an awful lot.

But it is worth noting that, when compared to the NFL average, New Orleans and Detroit were both better running to the right than the left last season. Likely suitors include the Jets and Steelers, each of whom lost a starting right tackle to free agency, as well as Miami, whose offensive line has been in shambles for two years.

Mr. Schatz is the editor in chief of FootballOutsiders.com.