FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- One of the hallmarks of the New England Patriots' negotiating approach with some top free agents is to let the market dictate.

They did it two years ago with safety Devin McCourty, and now this year with linebacker Dont'a Hightower, as the players are allowed to explore the open market while maintaining an open dialogue with Patriots coach Bill Belichick along the way.

The Patriots have traditionally counted on the tight bond forged between coach Bill Belichick and his players to help when the likes of Dont'a Hightower, left, hit free agency. Stew Milne/USA TODAY Sports

The approach has multiple layers.

In part, it is based on trust between Belichick and the players he has developed over time. Everything is up front between them.

Another part of it is the Patriots allowing the market to do the work for them. Instead of having a recently submitted offer shopped around the NFL and used against them, their approach has the player’s agent getting offers from others and ultimately bringing them back to New England.

Sometimes that leads to the Patriots matching an offer, or coming close enough to it for the player to re-sign (e.g., McCourty). In other cases, when the Patriots aren’t in the same financial neighborhood (e.g., Vince Wilfork in 2015), they can wish the player well on good terms without having potentially insulted him with a lower offer.

So when the question is asked -- “Will the Patriots re-sign Hightower?” -- the answer is truly contingent on what develops for the five-year veteran on the open market.

Former Patriots assistant to the coaching staff Michael Lombardi seemed to capture the dynamics of the situation well in his Wednesday interview on the “Zolak & Bertrand Show” on WBZ-FM 98.5 The Sports Hub.

“What they’re going to do with Hightower, and what they do with a lot of these guys, is let the player see his market value,” Lombardi said on the program. “Because if he’s out there on the market, and he does come back at a deal that he feels is worthwhile -- like Devin McCourty came back and other players have come back -- then the player isn’t upset that he feels like he’s gotten ripped off. He’s out there on the market, he knows what his value is, his agent has laid it out: ‘You can get X amount from this team, X amount from the Patriots, you make the call.’”

It’s a bit unconventional, because many teams often don’t want to take the risk of a player hitting the open market and departing. Once a player gets to that point, the team loses leverage.

But it’s worked, for the most part, for Belichick and the Patriots.

“I think it a healthy way to negotiate, and it’s not fearful of losing the player. And it keeps your locker room a lot cleaner and a lot healthier in terms of ‘You’re paying this guy what?’” Lombardi said. “... Not a lot is paid attention to that.”