Carr set to be highest-paid QB

The expected contract extension for Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr could be coming sooner rather than later.

ESPN reported yesterday that Carr is close to finalizing a multi-year agreement that could pay him an average of $25 million per season.

Should the deal reach the $25 million threshold, the fourth-year quarterback out of Fresno State would become the NFL’s highestpaid quarterback in terms of yearly average salary. According to spotrac.com, Andrew Luck of the Indianapolis Colts is the top earner at $24,594,000.

Carr said he would not deal with a contract extension after training camp begins on July 28 because it would interfere with preparation for the 2017 season. . . .

The Jacksonville Jaguars claimed offensive lineman Demetrius Rhaney off waivers from the Los Angeles Rams. The 6-foot-2, 301-pound Rhaney was a seventh-round draft pick out of Tennessee State by the Rams in 2014. . . .

New York Jets linebacker Lorenzo Mauldin was arrested on a misdemeanor assault charge after reportedly striking a man in the eye and jaw after he accidentally splashed champagne on him at the Highline Ballroom in New York on April 2. Mauldin, 24, said he was “shocked” by the allegations. . . .

Green Bay Packers defensive lineman Letroy Guion has been arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of an intoxicant in Honolulu. Guion was suspended without pay by the NFL for the first four games of the 2017 season for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs. . . .

The trial regarding a lawsuit that accuses New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning of knowingly passing off unused helmets to be marketed and sold as gameused has been delayed indefinitely, according to a court filing. The trial was scheduled to begin Sept. 25, has been delayed. No new trial date was set and no reason was given for the delay. . .

Pro Football Hall of Famer Warren Sapp is donating his brain for medical research after his death to the Concussion Legacy Foundation.

Sapp, 44, said in a statement that he’s started to feel the effects of the many hits he took during his 13year NFL career, and hopes his donation can help prevent concussions and permanent brain damage for future football players.

NCAA goes offsides

The NCAA could change its video replay rules in college hockey, limiting the ability to review an offside play. The committee proposed ending potential offside challenges at the point the defensive team gains possession of the puck. Currently, the NHL allows a challenge for offside as long as the puck hasn’t left the offensive zone.

The playing rules oversight panel will to discuss the proposal July 20. . . .

Mexico asserted its superiority in the second half against New Zealand to avoid a Confederations Cup embarrassment, coming from behind to win a fiery Group A encounter 2-1 yesterday in Sochi, Russia. The game ended with an on-pitch brawl that saw the referee go over the touchline to assess the skirmishes on a video screen.

In Moscow, Cristiano Ronaldo set aside his tax fraud legal troubles to score the winning goal for Portugal in a 1-0 victory over host Russia. . . .

Former pro tennis player James Blake agreed to drop his right to sue the city of New York after he was arrested and tackled by police in a case of mistaken identity. In exchange, a legal fellowship will be created in the Harvard graduate’s name to bolster the work of the city’s police watchdog agency. Blake, 37, retired after the 2013 U.S. Open.

Names: Eldridge dies

Larry Eldridge, whose sports reporting career spanned from covering the Impossible Dream of 1967 to Olga Korbut and Mark Spitz in the 1972 Olympics to a long career as sports editor at The Christian Science Monitor, died Sunday from complications due to congestive heart failure. Eldridge, 84, was a longtime resident of West Newton.

Eldridge, who did a short stint on the sports copy desk at the Herald, was on hand for some memorable events over his half-century of sports journalism. He covered the Cassius ClaySonny Liston fight in 1960, the Bobby Fischer-Boris Spassky chess match in Reykjavik, Iceland, in 1972, and the Miracle on Ice in Lake Placid in 1980.

Eldridge was best known here for his role at The Monitor and as television host of Eldridge on Sports. See obituary, Page 36.