Mike Wallace is more than merely the $60 million man for the Miami Dolphins.

He's also one of the freshest faces of NFL team-building philosophy.

The Dolphins made a huge splash when the free agency market opened this week, luring the former Pittsburgh Steelers deep-threat receiver with a five-year, $60 million contract that guarantees $27 million. And they did not stop there. The two linebackers that Miami signed to five-year contracts -- Dannell Ellerbe and Philip Wheeler -- came with a combined price tag of $61 million.

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This spending spree is risky business.

"Free agency can wreck your salary cap," Jimmy Johnson, the Fox Sports analyst, told USA TODAY Sports. Johnson was previously head coach of the Dolphins and before that, won two Super Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys.

"It makes you mortgage your future."

In Wallace's case, Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland swung hard to provide second-year quarterback Ryan Tannehill with a go-to target who stretches the field with 40-yard dash speed in the 4.3-second range.

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He's sorely needed. Miami's 27th-ranked offense produced a skimpy 13 TD receptions in 2012. Wallace, coming off a down year as Pittsburgh's revised passing attack under new coordinator Todd Haley was built on shorter routes and quicker throws, averaged 17.2 yards per catch during his first four seasons.

Now, averaging $12 million per year, Wallace is suddenly is the league's third-highest paid receiver after Calvin Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald.

Fine player, no doubt. But is he worth that price?

"They got a good player," Johnson said. "They paid a lot of money for him. I haven't seen a lot of receivers turn a team around. If you draft 'em, they're a lot cheaper."

That's the heart of the matter. Some big headlines were generated this week with huge signings, but there are no guarantees.

The starting-over-again Cleveland Browns have something in common with the Dolphins. The Browns signed Paul Kruger to a five-year, $40.1 million deal. Like Ellerbe, Kruger is a promising talent from the Ravens' championship defense. But with seven starts in four years, he's still a bit unproven. It could be boom or bust, while Kruger tries to prove that he can star after getting out of the shadow of the accomplished veterans he was surrounded by in Baltimore.

Cleveland didn't stop there. It signed ex-Oakland Raiders defensive tackle Desmond Bryant to a 5-year, $34 million deal with $15 million guaranteed. Maybe he will emerge as Cleveland's version of Geno Atkins, a rising star with the Cincinnati Bengals. Maybe not.

The Browns and Dolphins, trying to reverse course and build contenders, started free agency with some of the most ample salary cap dollars to spend in the league, with combined room of nearly $75 million.

Then again, they surely had so much room because of past mistakes with personnel moves. So the big spending this week prompts a counter-reminder: The most consistent winners in the NFL -- the Ravens, Patriots, Packers, Steelers and Giants, among them -- build through the draft and complement those efforts with free agency.

Hit on the draft picks, including the mid- to late-round picks, and the salary cap advantage of paying relatively low wages for perhaps four years of service frees up the cap dollars that can be used to keep the star players who form the nucleus.

That formula, though, is contrasted so often by the teams that splurge in free agency and live to regret it.

Think of the years that the Washington Redskins, pre-Mike Shanahan, tried to elevate into a contender by winning the offseason free agency title fueled by franchise owner Dan Snyder's deep pockets. It didn't work.

The Redskins, saddled with $36 million in salary cap penalties over two years as punishment for questionable violations that the league concluded occurred during the uncapped year in 2010, aren't a major player on the market this time.

Bet the agents miss the presence the Redskins used to have this time of year. Nobody set the market like Snyder, who once signed D-tackle Albert Haynesworth to a $100 million contract in the hours after the market opened -- only to find out later just how disinterested the lineman was in becoming a nose tackle in a 3-4 scheme.

A more classic example, though, came two years ago with the Philadelphia Eagles, who after the lockout assembled such a seemingly-impressive array of talent that Vince Young, signed as a backup quarterback, dubbed them "The Dream Team."

Cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha was the headliner, with a five-year, $60 million contract. They traded for Cardinals corner Domonique Rodgers-Cromartie. Free agent signings included defensive linemen Jason Babin and Cullen Jenkins. And Ronnie Brown was supposed to provide a complementary punch in the backfield.

Bad dream is more like it. The Eagles tumbled to 4-12 last season, which led to the firing of Andy Reid as coach and de facto general manager.

Interestingly, Reid, who landed with the Kansas City Chiefs, has been among the most active participants thus far in this year's free agency market. Maybe he's learned a lesson. The Chiefs have been relatively careful with the dollars. Cornerback Sean Smith got $11 million guaranteed on a four-year, $18 million deal, while cornerback Dunta Robinson (3 years, $13.8 million, according to Spotrac.com), tight end Anthony Fasano (four 4 years, $16 million) and defensive tackle Mike De'Vito (3 years, $12.6 million) got the type of contracts that might pay off as value pickups.

None of Reid's moves would compare to the investments in Wallace or Kruger -- or to the biggest headline-grabbers with the Eagles two years ago.

It was ironic that as the market opened on Tuesday, Asomugha -- due a $15 million salary for 2013 -- was released by new Eagles coach Chip Kelly in a move that was expected for weeks. Two years earlier, he was the toast of the market, able to choose from a slew of pursuers.

The lack of success wasn't all on Asomugha, who was an all-pro with the Raiders. The Eagles had a different style of defense (and multiple coordinators), which took Asomugha out of the extensive man-to-man coverage that was his forte with the Raiders.

Asomugha's case illustrates some of common lessons -- or warnings -- that come with free agency: New system. New coaching. New surrounding cast. Locker room chemistry.

The results won't usually are never the same. In Pittsburgh, Wallace made a lot of big plays while on the other end of Ben Roethlisberger's exploits as one of the NFL's best playmakers -- with a knack for extending plays.

Whether Tannehill will provide similar big-play moments for Wallace -- either by improvisation or straight 9-route design -- will determine whether it was worth the money.

Time will also tell whether Ellerbe and Kruger -- so impressive as Ravens -- will play to the star levels that their contracts suggest they should or prove to be merely average outside of Baltimore's scheme.

Remember, they aren't the only ex-Ravens defenders to cash in big as free agents: Adalius Thomas, Duane Starks, Lionel Dalton and Ed Hartwell all left the Ravens and never emerged as big-time players. And the jury is still out on Jarret Johnson, the outside linebacker who signed with the Chargers last year. The most successful free agent defender to leave the Ravens? Bart Scott, who became a force with the Jets, but is now on the market looking for a new job.

Maybe Scott, an 11-year pro, will emerge this spring as somebody's free agent bargain.

Like cheap young talent, experienced and cheaper veteran talent can go a long way toward stretching dollars under a salary cap that is set this year at $123 million.

Meanwhile, the high-priced, risky free agents will have all the pressure.

"Free agency is a short-term cure to fix your mistakes," Johnson contends. "For 90 percent of them, if they're that great, then why were they available in the first place?"

Maybe the biggest free agent signings should come with a label for the teams that reads...

Warning: Big spending in free agency can be hazardous to your health.

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Follow Jarrett Bell on Twitter @JarrettBell

Photos: The NFL's top free agents: