As Beane said, they contact a lot of these free agents (via their rep) to see what their market is ...ie how much they want.. they would be negligent if they didn’t...
If they get a feel for what the guy wants and then don’t make an offer... does that really mean they “ have interest” as gets reported by media types?
If I’m looking for a house and I click on one that takes my fancy and find out the asking price is double my budget that’s probably going to be the end of it..