Free agency started Thursday and it was busy. As expected, Calais Campbell left, as did Tony Jefferson. And D.J. Swearinger. The Cardinals kept center A.Q. Shipley, and they found a new safety in Antoine Bethea. Things are moving at a rapid pace all across the league. That's pretty normal.

-- The safety trio of Tyrann Mathieu, Tyvon Branch and Antoine Bethea should be OK if Mathieu and Branch can stay healthy. That's the hope.

-- It'll be Boehm vs. Shipley for starting center. Nick Mangold isn't walking through that door. Don't forget that the Cardinals felt comfortable with the job Shipley did last season. Boehm will get his chance, but I don't think the Cards are worried if Shipley is the starter again this season.

-- Bethea was released, so he does not count in the compensatory pick equation. Campbell, Jefferson and Swearinger will, and with the large deals Campbell and Jefferson got, the Cardinals are well ahead in the 2018 comp pick game. So there's that.

-- It looks like linebacker Karlos Dansby could end up with a third tenure with the Cardinals. That's huge, man. Huge. Mostly because Kevin Minter -- the man who replaced him after the 2013 season -- is a free agent and who knows if he will return. Dansby had more than 100 tackles with the Bengals last season, so he's still plugging along.

-- Dansby is older (he'll be 36 during the season) but not as old as kicker Phil Dawson, the former 49er who looks like he'll be coming to Arizona as well. If Dawson does, that's the steady kicker the Cards didn't have a season ago. The Cards have moved on from Chandler Catanzaro.

-- Like Catanzaro, tight end Darren Fells was a restricted free agent whom the team did not tender. Fells is going to visit the Lions.

-- Should hear something soon on the official front with the Chandler Jones extension, but judging by reports it's going to look a lot like Olivier Vernon money ($80+M in potential value, $50+M in guarantees.) Which makes sense, because Vernon's deal always was the likely benchmark for an extension.

-- On the first day of the new league year, the NFLPA had the Cardinals with $21.3 million of salary cap space. That'd be prior to Bethea and Shipley signing (and tight end Jermaine Gresham, who officially signed his contract Thursday as well.)

Day one is done. Hopefully.