It’s the day that brings dreams and hope to so many.

The mere mention of the words free agency can fire up a pack of NFL fans faster than just about anything that pops up on the football calendar. Maybe it’s an outgrowth of the same fever that has made fantasy football a million-dollar business. Everyone – fans, media, players, coaches and even owners – loves to play the free agency game.

That holds true even though evidence is stacked as high as Everest that throwing millions of dollars at free agents is a waste of time, energy and most especially money. It’s fool’s gold.

Call the start of 2009 free agency False Hope Friday.

There are a lot of Chiefs fans sitting around the country today that can’t wait to see what Scott Pioli and Todd Haley do with all that salary cap room the team is carrying into the 2009 season. There are great expectations of immediate signings and additions.

Me thinks those fans are going to be disappointed. The Chiefs will be a player in free agency, make no mistake about that. Given what we’ve seen of Pioli and how he operates – during his time with the Patriots and in six weeks with the Chiefs – I think it’s safe to say that the team has a plan for approaching the free agent market.

I can’t imagine the Pioli plan includes coming out of the blocks and throwing money at players in the first hours of their availability. By its nature, free agency means bigger-dollar contracts. First-day or first weekend free agency means outlandish contracts and record setting deals. There may be a player or two that the Chiefs consider a priority, and that might draw some immediate attention from the club. But I would expect that the Chiefs would be far more active in the second wave of free agent signings than anything this weekend.

So if you thought Albert Haynesworth, Ray Lewis, Kurt Warner and T.J.Houshmandzadeh were going to wear an arrowhead on their helmet, think again.

Remember that Pioli/Haley are not even sure just yet what they have with this roster. They know they inherited a 2-14 team, which is evidence of one thing: there wasn’t enough talent. The Chiefs didn’t stumble to the club’s worst record in 30 years because of bad luck. It happened because the talent level was not that of a winning team.

To correct that, free agents will be added and probably quite a few. In the last two years, the Chiefs signed six unrestricted free agents: linebacker Donnie Edwards, linebacker Napoleon Harris and tackle Damion McIntosh in 2007 and linebacker Demorrio Williams, wide receiver Devard Darling and returner B.J. Sams last season.

I would expect Pioli/Haley will add that many, maybe twice that many just this year. But the names don’t figure to be big ones.

In 2000, when Pioli joined Bill Belichick in taking over football control of the New England Patriots, they signed only a handful of free agents that first year. But in the second season, after getting look at a roster that put together a 5-11 record, they signed 17 free agents.

The Chiefs of 2009 are not the Patriots of 2000 or 2001 and it’s always dangerous ground comparing teams because the situations are never the same. But the history of what happened in New England is part of Pioli’s football DNA and that can’t be forgotten.

Atlanta G.M. Tom Dimitroff worked with the Patriots and for Pioli for six years, including five years as the director of college scouting. Last year, he hit a home run with one of the most sought after free agents in the league: running back Michael Turner. But it’s not the way he plans on keeping the Falcons on top

“We want to stress the draft,” Dimitroff said at the NFL Scouting Combine last week. “To throw double-digit millions in guaranteed money and a high average-per-year money into a player who is not a part of your system and coming from another situation, that really has me back on my heels a little bit, to be honest with you.”

He should go back on his heels. Free agency is great for filling holes in the roster. It’s not something to build a team around. A brick here or there will work. As a foundation for a team, it’s a recipe for false hope.