So much for the idea that a team can win a Super Bowl without a quarterback.

	Doug Flutie, a salary-cap cut by the Bills, signed a six-year deal with the Chargers.

The Buccaneers, who thought quarterbacks weren't essential in championship runs, signed Brad Johnson to a five-year, $28 million contract. The Ravens, who won the Super Bowl with Bucs castoff Trent Dilfer, signed Elvis Grbac to a five-year, $30 million deal. The Chargers, in the beginning of a two-year rebuilding plan, signed 38-year-old Doug Flutie to a six-year $30.3 million contract.

And the Chiefs would be foolish not to trade for quarterback Trent Green even if it costs them the 12th pick in the draft. The 2000 season may have been a transition year for quarterbacks, so the importance of quarterbacks may have been deemphasized on the short term.

But the Ravens and Bucs -- two teams that are so strong on defense -- made bold decisions that they better upgrade their quarterback position for this year's Super Bowl run. Before free agency started, most people around the NFL thought Johnson, who learned NFL quarterbacking from Brian Billick in Minnesota, was heading to the Ravens. Once the Chiefs cut Elvis Grbac, the Ravens switched strategies, brought in Grbac and eventually signed him.

Johnson, miffed that the Ravens didn't act quickly on him, started negotiating with the Bucs and signed first with Tony Dungy, who liked him two years ago at the Pro Bowl.

"I'm sure Tampa is happy with the guy that they got and we are happy with the guy that we got," Billick said. "If Green is the first choice of Kansas City, then they get the guy that they want. Brad makes Tampa a legitimate Super Bowl contender. This move makes them viable."

The game of quarterback musical chairs heads the beginning of every free agency season. It coincides with the beginning of the trading season. Many of the first trades usually involve quarterbacks. Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren studied the free agent market and Green and wasted little time deciding that Matt Hasselbeck was his quarterback. He swapped first-rounders and threw in a third to get Hasselbeck, who will start in what Holmgren believes will be a playoff season.

If the market seems busier than normal, it is for a couple of reasons. First, the draft isn't great for quarterbacks. Michael Vick and Drew Brees are the only two quarterbacks slated for the first round and each needs a year or so to develop NFL skills. Vick needs to learn defenses. Brees played out of a shotgun at Purdue and hasn't taken many snaps from a center.

Couple that with a limited market of free-agent quarterbacks, and -- had Grbac not been added to the market -- the Bucs may not have had the chance to move on Johnson. The Ravens would have signed him, and the Bucs would have stayed with Shaun King.

The lesson learned here is that free agency and the salary cap are quickening the time table of teams. The window is two or three years max. After that, the big contracts eat up the salary cap and teams have to start unloading players instead of adding them to the roster. The Jaguars, Cowboys, Vikings, Chiefs, 49ers and others are in that phase of purging instead of building.

So if you are on the rise and know it, you better make moves, and it starts with the quarterbacks. The Ravens understand.

"Our plan was to get this team ready for 2002 and 2003, and that fact that we made the Super Bowl last year and won it was great," Billick said. "We were able to be solid on defense and still win. Our defense will still be solid, but if can get back, we should be able to do it with an offense that has more possibilities of being in the top 10."

Grbac fit what Billick was looking for. He was younger than Johnson but has experience on a team that was in playoff contention in Kansas City. His arm is slightly stronger than Johnson's. What Grbac needs to develop over the next couple of years is Johnson's savvy leadership in the huddle.

Johnson is a winner and is a known commodity, which makes him a great fit in Tampa Bay. Injuries has hampered him from more chances to be among the elite quarterbacks.

	Probably these two moves (the signings of Elvis Grbac and Brad Johnson) will make many experts establish the Ravens and the Bucs as the early Super Bowl favorites.

"Elvis' career is still on the upswing," Billick said.

The Bucs have been able to go to the playoffs and a championship game not knowing what they can get out of their quarterback. King surprised them as a rookie, but last year, he left them wondering each week whether he was going to have a good game or a bad game. Johnson is more consistent.

Probably these two moves will make many experts establish the Ravens and the Bucs as the early Super Bowl favorites. Johnson will certainly get the ball to Keyshawn Johnson, and mistakes will be minimized in the Bucs' offense.

With Grbac at the helm and with Jamal Lewis and Travis Taylor in their second years with the Ravens, there will be no repeat of scoring droughts or one-touchdown offensive games.

That's why it's so important for the Chiefs not to squander the chance to get Green. Vermeil believed in him two years ago when he brought him to St. Louis and made him the starting quarterback. The knee injury ended his season and allowed Kurt Warner to be the surprise quarterback to take them to the Super Bowl.

Still, having Green makes the Chiefs more viable on offense. He would be loaded at the receiving positions. Tony Gonzalez is a game-breaker at tight end. Sylvester Morris and Derrick Alexander give defenses fits trying to match up against them. Knowing that the team is converting to the Rams' offense, it's the fastest way to lock up one side of the ball and allow the personnel office to focus on finding a running back.

Remember Vermeil signed only a three-year contract. He obviously didn't feel comfortable with Grbac as his leader. When Grbac resisted the team's first offer to restructure his contract, Vermeil learned that Grbac didn't feel comfortable in Kansas City. Green is the quarterback Vermeil wants, so he better get him.

If it sounds as though the NFL is starting to operate like a league that has no tomorrow, it's true. Sitting around waiting for teams to develop isn't easy anymore. If a first-round choice isn't playing well by the third year, he's gone. Teams are releasing $4 million players in the third year of their contracts because of tight salary caps.

Don't wait. The Ravens didn't. They felt they could win more with Leon Searcy at right tackle and Mike Flynn at center. Go for it.

"The rich just got richer," Billick said, knowing that the rich only become poor in a couple of years -- because the salary cap gets everyone.

John Clayton is the senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.