It’s no coincidence that Philadelphia, the team the Patriots beat in last February’s Super Bowl, has followed their model.

The Patriots let go of popular and productive players on the downside such as Lawyer Milloy and Ty Law; the Eagles did it with Troy Vincent, Carlos Emmons, and Bobby Taylor. Guess what. Over the past four seasons, each have 48-16 regular-season records, by far the best in the league.

There is even cross-pollination there: The Eagles’ assistant director of player personnel is Jason Licht, who was lured from New England after the 2003 season.

All of this means both have figured out how to stay on top in the salary cap era.

When Brady re-signed in the offseason for $60 million over six years, it was less than what a quarterback with three Super Bowl victories and two Super Bowl MVP trophies in four seasons could have gotten elsewhere.

Compare that to Indianapolis’ Peyton Manning, who has thrown for more yards, has more records and two consecutive regular-season MVPs, a contract worth $98 million ... and no rings. Same for Atlanta’s Michael Vick, whose contract is worth $130 million.

It starts with owner Robert Kraft, who was told by some of the most respected people in the NFL that he was making a mistake in 2000 when he hired Belichick, who was just 37-45 in as Cleveland’s head coach from 1991-95.

“I know what I don’t know,” says Kraft. “I hire competent people and let them make decisions. In Bill’s case, he was someone who I’d gotten to know as one of the smartest people I’d ever met.”

NFL 2007 Team-by-team reports, predictions

Now, of course, Belichick is being compared to Vince Lombardi because he knows how to fit players like Phifer, Chatham, Tully Banta-Cain and others into roles. And, of course, because of his use of stars Brady, Bruschi, Willie McGinest and Richard Seymour.

Seymour illustrates another way the Patriots work.

A two-time All-Pro in just four NFL seasons, he stayed out of minicamp and the first week of training camp. He wanted to renegotiate the six-year, $14.3 million contract he signed after he was taken sixth overall in the 2001 draft. They compromised by adding around $1.2 million to Seymour’s salary this year and promising to talk over a long-term deal a little later.

Seymour is a quiet leader, the polar opposite of Terrell Owens, whose me-first attitude has caused so many problems for the Eagles this preseason. And the situation is different, too — Seymour clearly has outperformed his contract and Kraft, Belichick and Pioli recognize that.

When Kraft talks of Belichick as “smart,” he means more than football smarts.

Most teams fill their scouting and coaching staffs with career football types. The Patriots do it with an uncommon array of people, some of them quite young and many from elite New England schools.

Belichick himself went to the exclusive Phillips Andover Academy and was a 160-pound center at Wesleyan, from which 34-year-old defensive coordinator Eric Mangini also graduated. Ernie Adams, the football research director, also went to Andover, as did scout Kyle O’Brien, a former lacrosse player at Harvard.

And Belichick’s not afraid to go young. Quarterbacks coach Josh McDaniels is just 29, a year older than Brady, but he (and Brady) are part of a committee that will run the offense now that coordinator Charlie Weis has become head coach at Notre Dame.

The success of the Patriots’ system is recognized at the top of the NFL.

“The current system is much more competitive in the front office,” says commissioner Paul Tagliabue. “It’s always been easy to get talent and keep talent through the draft. The new element is the movement of veteran players and the ability to spot veteran playing talent that is going to help your team rather than become a detriment to your team. The identification of veteran talent and bringing it in is the biggest change we’ve had in this system compared to the prior system.”

The Patriots have mastered it, not only with Rodney Harrison, Corey Dillon and now Chad Brown — veterans who have been successful elsewhere and even more successful in New England— but with Matt Chatham.

Three Super Bowls in four seasons attest to that.

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