First order of business for NFL teams: Clear cap space

All those promises worth millions upon millions to free agents turned into paydays Wednesday when the NFL’s business year began.

Of course, teams needed to clear salary cap space or rejigger their ledgers to make it work, and they’ll still be doing so for months.

While the likes of Drew Brees, Malcolm Butler and Andrew Norwell cashed in bigtime, having reached agreements in the past two days before everything became official, some value entered the marketplace.

Arizona released safety Tyrann Mathieu when it couldn’t rework his deal. On Tuesday, the Cardinals let running back Adrian Peterson go.

Baltimore cut receiver Jeremy Maclin. Detroit said goodbye to tight end Eric Ebron. Pittsburgh tore up a secondary that often was torn up by opposing quarterbacks, releasing Mike Mitchell, Robert Golden and William Gay.

But Carolina had more success with a veteran, completing a one-year deal with defensive end Julius Peppers.

The 38-year-old Peppers, who contemplated retirement after 17 pro seasons, remains with the Panthers for $5 million, with $2.5 million guaranteed, a person familiar with the situation said. The person spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday on condition of anonymity because the team does not release financial terms of contracts.

Cleveland, meanwhile, did nothing more than listen to one of its greatest players, tackle Joe Thomas, announce his retirement. The Browns save his $10.3 million salary for 2018 and a $3 million bonus but lose their best player and leader in the expansion era (1999-present), a 10-time Pro Bowler.

Mathieu was due for $18.75 million of his contract to be guaranteed when the league year officially begins. By cutting him, Arizona will save close to $5 million in cap space.

Baltimore freed up an estimated $5 million in salary cap space by releasing Maclin, who signed on as a free agent in June. Then the Ravens agreed to deals with receivers John Brown and Ryan Grant.

San Francisco agreed to a four-year contract with running back Jerick McKinnon. McKinnon replaces departing starter Carlos Hyde.

Five-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh officially was released, when the trades to acquire defensive end Robert Quinn and send Jarvis Landry to the Browns were formalized.

Source: Siemian to Vikes?

A person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press the Minnesota Vikings are negotiating a trade with the Denver Broncos to acquire quarterback Trevor Siemian.

Siemian would give the Vikings a capable backup who started 24 games for the Broncos over the last two seasons, with free agent Kirk Cousins the team’s primary target as the new league year began Wednesday. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal, first reported by NFL Network, was not final.