FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Ready, set, tamper!

At 12 p.m. ET, teams can contact agents for those players who have a contract expiring, and while they can't officially sign deals, negotiations can take place.

For a New England Patriots team that has several free agents who are testing the market but keeping an open dialogue on a possible return, this is a decisive time. The 52 hours from 12 p.m. Tuesday to the official start of free agency on Thursday at 4 p.m. ET will define each player's market before things ultimately reach a breaking point with the Patriots -- one way or the other.

There is arguably no better story than the team's receiver transition from Wes Welker to Danny Amendola in 2013 as to why this period is so critical.

The '13 offseason was the first time the NFL introduced the legal tampering period, and the Patriots essentially had two footballs in the air at the time: Their offer to Welker and the fallback plan of Amendola if it didn't work out.

They knew the official start of free agency was the flash point: If they hadn't reached an extension with Welker by then, they would lock in Amendola. The timing was crucial because Amendola had other offers, but his top choice was the Patriots.

As the clock ticked toward the start of free agency, and there was nothing official with Welker, the Patriots made the decision to move on because they would have lost Amendola.

That story is passed along because the Patriots always enter free agency with a detailed strategy that includes multiple layers of plans. Timing is often of the essence when it comes to when they move from an initial plan to the next.

As for how that relates to this year, it starts with linebacker Dont'a Hightower. While Hightower likely has a good feeling for his market, it will soon become even clearer to him and things should happen quickly over the next few days -- one way or the other.

The same should be true for tight end Martellus Bennett and cornerback Logan Ryan, among others.

Things are about to get interesting.