It was rare to see cuts like this five years ago. You simply didn’t dump players who were just a year or two removed from being among the best in the business, even if they were expensive to keep as backups. At least that was the common, if cautious, wisdom.

But the Patriots didn’t get where they are by being cautious. They could have kept Milloy two seasons ago and cut a couple of other guys on the roster. But that was antithetical to the Patriots’ philosophy, which is that no player is bigger than the team, and if you put too much money in one position, you are going to suffer somewhere else.

At the time, a lot of people thought New England would regret the move, and, when the Patriots staggered out of the gate, it appeared they were right. But New England recovered and won the second of their three Super Bowls, proving in the process that the system is stronger than the players.

Slide show   Super Bowl XXXIX Click to see pictures from the New England Patriots' victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.

But Belichick had already pulled a similarly brash move two years earlier when he stuck with a sixth-round quarterback even after his Pro-Bowl starter, Bledsoe, returned from the injury that gave Tom Brady a chance to start. This year, the Pats may have to make another tough decision regarding cornerback Ty Law, but if it comes down to keeping a star player or paying him more than they have budgeted for that position, Law, too, will be looking for a new team.

The league had already been moving away from the practice popularized by the 49ers and Cowboys in the early days of the salary cap of getting around the numbers by paying big up-front bonuses on contracts structured to last far more years than the player would. Those teams were successful for a time, and were imitated, but they suffered horribly when it came time to pay the bills. You don’t see many teams operating that way anymore.

And now, with the example of the Pats hammered home for a third time in four years, things will get more ruthless rather than more generous.

Not everyone, of course, will go along. The Seahawks have been disappointing tens of thousands of fans for longer than absolutely necessary, but they just gave Walter Jones, an All-Pro tackle, a new contract: seven years and $50 million. That would never happen in New England. And, as long as the Seahawks hand out money like that, even to a great lineman, a Super Bowl will never happen in Seattle.