First, let’s make things abundantly clear: Ray Lewis, Albert Haynesworth or T.J. Houshmandzadeh aren’t walking through that door.

For New England, this year in free agency won’t bring any seismic additions like Rosevelt Colvin or Adalius Thomas. The Patriots have relatively little cap room — $3.2 million, according to multiple outlets — so they probably won’t even make any moderate-sized splashes. (At least while they have Matt Cassel’s contract on the books.) Instead, New England will instead make some minor ripples, using the free agent process to augment rather than dictate their overall team-building process this offseason.

Here’s a look at how they’ll likely proceed, position by position:

Quarterback: They’ll be relatively quiet. If/when Cassel is dealt, they could still go out and get themselves a veteran free agent backup (Damon Huard?) if they don’t think Kevin O’Connell can make the leap, but don’t expect anything other than small changes.

Running back/tight end: Perhaps where the biggest signing would happen is running back, as the buzz here is that the Patriots will add veteran Fred Taylor, perhaps as soon as this weekend. The 33-year-old, a perennial Pro Bowler with the Jaguars, has rushed for 11,271 yards in his career, and would love to cap off his career with a Super Bowl ring. If the money works, there are several pluses here: Prone to breaking down physically over the course of his career, the current running back rotation would ensure that Taylor wouldn’t be a feature back, which should take some of the load off his shoulders and help avoid the threat of injury. He’s a terrific locker room guy, and would likely take an active role in the mentoring of occasional question mark Laurence Maroney. If they can get Taylor to agree to a short-term, no-risk deal, this could be the most notable free agent move New England makes this offseason. At tight end, don’t look for any major deals.

Offensive line: If history tells us anything, it’s that when the Patriots acquire offensive linemen, they do it through the draft, not in free agency — all five of New England’s current starting offensive linemen were acquired through the draft or as undrafted free agents. That shouldn’t change this time around. Look for them to do as much as possible to retain versatile veteran Russ Hochstein, who can play a number of positions along the offensive line.

Wide receiver: The Patriots probably won’t go after any of the names — or even the semi-famous ones, like Laveranues Coles. (If Eric Mangini were still in charge of the Jets and the money was right, New England would have hopped on this by 12:15 a.m. Friday. But Mangini is out and the money probably won’t be a good match, so it’s unlikely to happen. Besides, Coles and Chad Pennington are best pals, so look for him to pop up in Miami.) Instead, I wouldn’t be shocked if they didn’t simply get Jabar Gaffney to re-up for another year, and go after a wide receiver in the middle to late rounds in the draft. Again, don’t look for any major additions in free agency.

Defensive line: Any moves the Patriots make will be small. New England will likely try and re-sign Mike Wright. When the Patriots suffered injuries along the line late last season, he was exposed as a backup, but he remains versatile (he can play all three line positions in the 3-4), he’s familiar with the New England system and has a ton of special teams experience, all of which are big points in his favor. In addition, the Patriots historically tend to find defensive linemen in the draft or as undrafted free agents, not in free agency.

Linebacker: With the Patriots’ cap crunch, they will certainly steer clear of any of the big-ticket free agent linebackers who could make any sort of sudden impact on the New England defense (Bart Scott, Ray Lewis). Instead, they’ll likely look to get younger at linebacker through the draft. (Fortunately for them, it’s a linebacker-rich draft.)

Safety: A position that offers some intriguing possibilities for the Patriots in free agency. If New England decides not to bring back 36-year-old Rodney Harrison, they could go after a similar player in Brian Dawkins, a smart, well-respected veteran who has served as a major piece of Philadelphia’s recent defensive success. The last reports seemed to indicate that the Eagles were still hopeful they could re-sign Dawkins, but if he did hit the open market, the 35-year-old Dawkins might make be a good fit in New England. He wouldn’t be signed past a year or two, but could serve as a mentor to younger safeties like Brandon Meriweather and James Sanders, the latter of whom is a free agent himself and might not return.

Cornerback: Moments into free agency Friday morning, Washington re-signed DeAngelo Hall, taking one of the top defensive names off the market. Other names of note out there who might be a fit in New England are Domonique Foxworth, Leigh Bodden and Phillip Buchanon, although Buchanon will likely return to Tampa Bay.

Christopher Price covers the Patriots for WEEI.com.