NFL

NFL free agency technically begins on Tuesday, but the deal-making began (at least in theory) on Saturday. The fun is underway and free agency will be anything but free. It will be downright expensive.

The biggest news is the biggest contract. The Miami Dolphins are apparently prepared to pay defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh $114 million over six years, making his deal the largest ever for a defensive player. Suh will be leaving the Detroit Lions.

Other players have also stated their intentions to move on: Running back Frank Gore, who has played his whole career with the San Francisco 49ers, plans to join the Philadelphia Eagles. Receiver Jeremy Maclin will leave the Eagles for the Kansas City Chiefs. The 49ers apparently have the inside track on signing receiver Torrey Smith (Baltimore Ravens). And so it goes. …

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Maryland’s move to the Big Ten paid off handsomely for the basketball teams. The women went undefeated (18-0) in league play and won the Big Ten championship by beating Ohio State 77-74 on Sunday. The team (30-2) is ranked No. 3 in the nation and has won 24 consecutive games. The men concluded Big Ten regular-season play by beating Nebraska 64-61 for their seventh straight win and a regular-season record 26^th win. The gentlemen Terps (26-5) are ranked 10^th nationally. … No. 1 Kentucky beat Florida on Saturday to wrap up the regular season 31-0.

GOLF

Dustin Johnson came from five strokes back to win the WGC-Cadillac Championship by one stroke over J.B. Holmes, who led through each of the first three rounds at Doral. Johnson shot a 3-under 69 on Sunday while Holmes came home at 3-over. Bubba Watson was third.

ELSEWHERE

Texas Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish may need Tommy John surgery, which would put him out for the season. … Nine Atlanta Braves pitchers combined to throw a 10-inning no-hitter in a 2-2 tie with the Houston Astros in a split-squad spring training game. … Kevin Harvick notched his first win of the young NASCAR season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He had finished second at Daytona and at Atlanta last week.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman .