Let the dollars start to flow like the raging rapids of the Colorado River.

Free agency got underway yesterday with a flourish, as teams decided whether to take advantage of the uncapped year by throwing truckloads of money with front loaded deals to players, while others made tough decisions to let some long time members of their franchise go. 

So far, the NFC North has been leading the charge of those spending the bucks, and none more so than the Chicago Bears.  Normally a fiscally conservative team that doesn't like to throw money around, the Bears went out and inked three free agents yesterday, including arguably the biggest name on the market in former Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers.

Peppers, who has 81 career sacks in eight seasons, signed a six year deal worth $91.5 million, with $42 million of that being guaranteed.  Think about that for a second.  Peppers could go out, blow his knee out in training camp, never play a down for the Bears, and still collect $42 million.  If that's the kind of deal we're handing out in the league, sign me up.  I'll even take a personalized gift of a team photo. hat and jersey to knock my price tag down to a more cap conducive number for after the lockout. At 33, I still should have two or three years left before I have to retire.

The Bears weren't done there though, as they signed versatile running back Chester Taylor away from division rival Minnesota with a four year, $12.5 million deal to be the BACKUP.  That's right, he's not even the starter, as Matt Forte seems to have that job locked down for the foreseeable future.  Taylor backed up Adrian Peterson in Minnesota, but was a 1000 yard rusher the year before Peterson came to the Vikings.  He's a good third down back and insurance policy.  The Bears also inked blocking tight end Brandon Manumaleuna to a five year deal, which may signify the end of the road for Desmond Clark.

The other team in the NFC North making moves was the Detroit Lions.  Tired of having subpar options and journeymen opposite Calvin Johnson at wide receiver, Jim Schwartz and company went out and plucked Nate Burleson from the Seahawks.  Burleson got a five year deal worth $25 million, with $11 million guaranteed.  Not bad money for a guy who has only broken the 1000 yard plateau once in his career.  To his benefit though, the offensive coordinator when he did that was Scott Linehan.  Detroit's offensive coordinator, you ask?  The same Scott Linehan.

The Lions also bolstered their defensive line with the signing of former Titans defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch to a four year, $26 million deal.  They also acquired defensive tackle Corey Williams from Cleveland along with a seventh round selection for a fifth round pick in this year's draft.  Those two moves make the Lions defensive line much more formidable, especially considering they hold the second pick in the draft, which they could use to take Gerald McCoy or Ndamukong Suh should they be so inclined.

As far as teams taking a hit, the Arizona Cardinals are losing players left, right and center it seems.  Kurt Warner retired.  Anquan Boldin was traded to the Baltimore Ravens yesterday for third and fourth round picks in the draft.  He had been vocal about being moved for two seasons now, and with the emergence of Early Doucet and Steve Breaston to go with Larry Fitzgerald, that won't be an issue for the Cardinals.

Where they might suffer is defensively.  Bertrand Berry also retired, taking away a pass rush specialist.  They released safety Antrel Rolle, rather than pay him a $4 million roster bonus and his $8 million salary.  Instead, the Giants signed Rolle to a five year, $37.5 million deal, the highest contract ever for a safety in the history of the NFL.  Of that, $15 million is guaranteed money.  The Cards also lost linebacker Karlos Dansby to the Miami Dolphins.  Dansby scored the winning TD in overtime of the Cardinals 51-45 win over Green Bay in the wild card round of the playoffs this year and was the heart and soul of the defense, along with Darnell Dockett.  Miami was unhappy with their inside linebacker play, and threw Dansby a five year, $43 million deal with $22 million of it guaranteed.

For all the doom and gloom about teams losing money and preaching fiscal conservatism, all I see is a whole lot of big numbers being thrown around.  It makes you wonder if the NFLPA has something going when they demand to see the books.  We'll have to wait and see.