I understand the circumstances that brought it about were a bit contentious, but the NFL should really look into doing free agency like this every year. It was like a week-long NFL Draft with well-compensated veterans being selected instead of well-compensated college players. (I kid, I kid.)

I couldn’t turn away from the NFL Network, hanging on every word of Jason La Canfora and waiting for Mike Lombardi and Jamie Dukes to come to blows over the merits of Vince Young. Here are some of the highlights, winners and losers of the process as the first preseason games beckon this week.

WHEN NNAMDI BECAME A HOUSEHOLD NAME

It was quite amusing to see so many fans get in such a lather over a player whom they’d probably never seen play. Nnamdi Asomugha had played in Oakland for so long that he was like an urban legend. (I picture some guy telling his kid, “Rumor has it that he has six arms and can cover all five eligible receivers at once.”)

All of the experts had him going to Dallas, Houston or the New York Jets, so naturally the Philadelphia Eagles, who seem to be stocking up on cornerbacks for the apocalypse in 2012, scooped him up. Nnamdi’s new salary ($60 million), while robust, certainly didn’t live up to Bunyanesque proportions, actually lagging behind Carolina pass-rusher Charles Johnson’s new deal ($72 million).

QUARTERBACKS, GET YOUR QUARTERBACKS HERE

In this bizarre time, Donovan McNabb, Matt Hasselbeck, and Tarvaris Jackson became coveted commodities. The same McNabb who was benched in favor of Rex Grossman. The same Hasselback who tossed 12 touchdowns against 17 interceptions a year ago. The same Jackson who, well, hasn’t ever been very good.

And yet, to hear the commentators talk about it, each of these guys will lead their team to the Promised Land like Moses with a flashlight. It won’t happen, of course.

Meanwhile, a quarterback who did produce a year ago, Kyle Orton, couldn’t get a deal from Miami, which chose to go instead with the dynamic duo of Chad Henne and Matt Moore. Yikes.

BELICHICK AS BABYSITTER

You’ll hear a lot in the coming weeks about Bill Belichick’s amazing ability to coddle malcontents into becoming productive workers in the Patriots machine. The problem is that, even if Chad Ochocinco and Albert Haynesworth do keep their mouths shut and show up in time, there is no guaranteeing that they can still play at anything near their former levels.

It should make for a good show, but the Patriot teams that won Super Bowls had a bunch of no-names surrounding Tom Brady.

A CONTRARIAN VIEW

The knee-jerk assumption is that the Eagles have improved their team to the point that they will be the Super Bowl favorites for the next decade. After all, they not only added Asomugha, they also grabbed Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Jason Babin, Cullen Jenkins, Vince Young, and Jim Brown. (OK, they didn’t sign Jim Brown, but, the way they were picking up players, it wouldn’t have surprised me.)

But they didn’t address their offensive line, which means that Michael Vick will be a man under siege once again. If he gets knocked out of the lineup, the Eagles suddenly don’t look so hot.

SOME UNDERRATED WINNERS

I like what Atlanta did. The Falcons only lost one of their three starting offensive linemen who were free agents, which isn’t a bad batting average. They also added Ray Edwards, who thrives with another pass rusher to take the pressure off him, which is exactly what he’ll have in John Abraham. Carolina did a nice job of re-signing key components like Johnson, DeAngelo Williams and Thomas Davis, while adding an excellent tight end in Greg Olsen.

San Diego managed to keep Vincent Jackson and Eric Weddle while shoring up a weakness at inside linebacker by signing Takeo Spikes. And Arizona got the one available quarterback with a legitimate future (Kevin Kolb), which fills the gaping hole they had at that position.

THE OPPOSITE OF WINNERS

Baltimore was supposed to rev things up offensively this season, but that will be tough to do without Willis McGahee, Derrick Mason, and Todd Heap on board. The Jets lost out on Asomugha, watched Brad Smith sign with a division rival and exchanged Braylon Edwards and Jerricho Cotchery for Plaxico Burress (Win? Don't be sure. Edwards averaged 17.1 yards per catch in 2010).

And Washington was typically clueless even by Daniel Snyder standards. The Redskins signed so many receivers that Brandon Stokley actually reneged on his deal to sign once he realized he’d be about 87th on the depth chart. Now if the Skins only had a quarterback to throw to those receivers.

DOES ANY OF THIS MATTER?

It was truly fun while it lasted, but keep one thing in mind while you ponder your favorite team’s moves. The two teams in the Super Bowl last year, Green Bay and Pittsburgh, made absolutely zero free agent acquisitions of note in the preseason preceding 2010.

In the NFL, boring stability wins out over fun chaos every time.