QB Murray signs $230.5M deal to stay with Arizona
The drama is over and the decision is in: Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals have made a long-term commitment to each other with a new contract that would keep the quarterback in the desert through the 2028 season.
The two-time Pro Bowl selection was taken with the No. 1 overall pick out of Oklahoma after he won the Heisman Trophy and has largely delivered in his quest to make the Cardinals a better franchise.
ESPN reported Thursday that the deal could be worth $230.5 million, with $160 million guaranteed.
Murray's new deal puts him on par with other young star QBs throughout the league like Buffalo's Josh Allen, who signed a deal worth more than $250 million last season. Murray will make an average of more than $46 million per season, which is similar to other elite quarterbacks such as Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers, Kansas City's Patrick Mahomes and Allen.
Listed at 5-foot-10, some worried Murray was too short to be a dominant pro quarterback, but his stats through three seasons prove otherwise. He's completed nearly 67% of his passes through 46 career games for 11,480 yards and 70 TDs while rushing for 1,786 yards and 20 TDs.
Arizona had a 5-10-1 record during his rookie season in 2019 but the Cardinals improved to 11-6 last season before losing to the Rams in the NFC Wild Card round of the playoffs.
• The Browns reached an agreement with free-agent QB Josh Rosen on a oneyear contract, giving them another veteran as they await a ruling on Deshaun Watson.
Rosen, the former UCLA quarterback who was on Cleveland's radar before the 2018 draft, will officially sign the contract today.
Watson is facing a possible NFL suspension after being accused by two dozen female massage therapists of sexual misconduct during sessions while the threetime Pro Bowler played for the Houston Texans.
• Super Bowl winner Charles Johnson died at the age of 50, according to his alma mater, the University of Colorado. The cause of death was not announced.
Johnson, who prepped at Cajon High in San Bernardino, was drafted by the Steelers with the No. 17 overall pick in the 1994 NFL draft. He won the Super Bowl in the 2001 season with the Patriots.
Over the course of his nine-year NFL career, Johnson had 4,606 receiving yards and 24 TDs. He spent five years in Pittsburgh before moving to Philadelphia, New England and Buffalo.
New clubs, no problem for Day
Playing with new golf clubs after his set failed to arrive from the U.S., Glen Day never expected to be a contender at the Senior British Open this week.
Imagine his surprise, then, at taking a share of the lead after the first round of the PGA Tour Champions event at Gleneagles.
“It's not ideal.” Day said, “but even if I get my stuff, I still may play these.”
Day converted an 8-foot eagle putt at the par-5 18th at The King's Course to match Stephen Ames' bogey-free 6-under 64.
Paul Broadhurst was one stroke back along with Jerry Kelly, Kent Jones and Darren Clarke.
• Nelly Korda is just trying to enjoy herself at the Evian Championship after a four-month injury layoff.
Korda shot a 7-under 64 that left her a stroke behind first-round leader Ayaka Furue in LPGA Tour's fourth major of 2022.
Brooke Henderson was also at 7-under, and Cheyenne Knight was another stroke back.
• Scott Piercy shot a 6-under 65 to share the 3M Open lead with Sungjae Im after the first round of the PGA Tour event.
Tony Finau was two strokes back, with three near misses of birdie putts over his last four holes, along with Brice Garnett, Doug Ghim, Emiliano Grillo and Tom Hoge.
• Paul Waring tied the course record with a 9-under 63 at Hillside to take a two-stroke lead in the first round of the DP World Tour's Cazoo Classic.
Garrick Porteous shot 65 to be alone in second, and Julien Guerrier, Grant Forrest, Jens Dantorp and Richard Mansell were tied for third.
Niederreiter signs with Predators
Free-agent forward Nino Niederreiter signed a twoyear, $8 million deal to join the Nashville Predators.
The 29-year-old Niederreiter had 44 points in 75 games with Carolina last season and ranked third on the Hurricanes with 24 goals. He has scored at least 25 points in nine of his 12 NHL seasons.
• The Penguins avoided arbitration with forward Kasperi Kapanen, re-signing him to a two-year deal with an average annual value of $3.2 million. He was inconsistent last season, recording 11 goals and 21 assists in 79 games.
Georgia's Smart agrees to megadeal
Georgia's Kirby Smart has agreed to a contract extension through the 2031 season, a 10-year agreement worth more than $110 million that makes him the latest coach to land the type of megadeal that is becoming increasingly common in college football.
Coming off a national championship, Smart will be paid $10.25 million this season in base salary and supplemental compensation. He will receive raises each season, which lead to total compensation of $12.25 million in 2031.
Smart joins Alabama's Nick Saban, Ohio State's Ryan Day, LSU's Brian Kelly, Michigan State's Mel Tucker and Texas A&M's Jimbo Fisher as college football coaches who will make at least $9 million in 2022.
F1 drivers call for bans on abusive fans
Sergio Perez called for lifetime bans for abusive fans at Formula One races and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton urged the community to band together to stamp out the boorish behavior spotlighted at recent events.
Drivers were shocked at the Austrian Grand Prix two weeks ago when fans used social media to make F1 aware of rampant harassment, sexism, racism and homophobia in the grandstands of the Red Bull Ring. F1 condemned the behavior hours before the start of the race and said it had discussed the problems with the race promoter; F1's statement did not offer fans a mechanism to report problems during the race.
As the series shifted to this week's French Grand Prix, Perez and Hamilton were among the many drivers who insisted the poor behavior must be firmly addressed.
“Those fans don't represent us as a sport, they don't share our values and they're not welcome here. As simple as that,” said Perez. “We should hopefully ban them for life, don't welcome them again. I think a few fans shouldn't even be allowed to embarrass our sport like that.”