COMMANDER WENTZ EXITS IN D.C.
As expected, the Washington Commanders released quarterback Carson Wentz after he spent one season with the team.
Wentz had two more seasons remaining on his four-year deal, but had no more guaranteed money. The transaction saved the Commanders $26.176 million on the salary cap, according to ESPN.
The seven-year veteran is now free to sign with any team before the start of free agency. The Commanders also released defensive back Bobby McCain on Monday.
Wentz ended up with the Commanders when the team acquired him from the Colts in exchange for a package of draft picks last offseason.
Wentz started in just seven games last season, finishing with a 2-5 record. He missed eight games due to a fracture in his finger suffered in a Week 6 victory over the Bears. Wentz recorded 1755 yards, throwing 11 touchdown passes and nine interceptions. He also ended the season with a 62.3 completion percentage.
The former No. 2 overall pick in the 2016 draft enjoyed his best days with the
Eagles. The North Dakota State alum was considered the frontrunner for the 2017 MVP award before tearing his ACL in a Week 14 victory over the Rams. The Eagles went on to defeat the Patriots in Super Bowl LII with Nick Foles under center.
Wentz finished third in MVP voting that year after recording 3296 yards, throwing 33 touchdown passes and seven interceptions.
FIIFI FRIMPONG
FALCON SHAKE-UP
The Falcons announced a plethora of changes to coach Arthur
Smith’s staff on Monday, further restructuring his assistants after a fifth straight losing season.
Most notably, Steve Jackson will take over as secondary coach, while David Huxtable has been hired as a senior defensive assistant after spending 40 years at the collegiate level.
Jackson and Huxtable will work under new defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen, who was hired away from the rival Saints last month after the retirement of Dean Pees.
Three assistants were not retained by Smith after a 7-10 season: secondary coach Jon Hoke, defensive line coach Gary Emanuel and outside linebackers coach Ted Monachino.
HOUSTON STILL NO. 1
The top five spots in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll remained the same. The rest of the AP Top 25 was a big jumble.
Houston was No. 1 for the second straight week in the poll released Monday, receiving 49 first-place votes from a 62-person media panel. No. 2 Alabama grabbed five first-place votes and No. 3 Kansas received eight.
UCLA and Purdue rounded out the top five. The Boilermakers held at No. 5 despite losing to No. 15 Indiana.
In the rest of the poll, only No. 20 Providence kept the same position from last week as teams get ready for conference tournaments next week and the start of March Madness.
Alabama held its spot after winning two games despite a challenging week off the court. Brandon Miller delivered a pair of huge games since police alleged that he brought a gun to former teammate Darius Miles, who is charged with capital murder in a fatal shooting.
S. CAROLINA STILL ROLLING
After a week of upsets that saw 15 ranked teams lose, South Carolina remained the lone unbeaten school.
The Gamecocks ran their streak to 36 consecutive weeks atop The Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll to match Louisiana Tech for the second-longest run in the history of the poll that dates to 1976.
South Carolina (29-0) finished the regular season unbeaten and was back to being a unanimous choice at No. 1 in national media poll released Monday. The Gamecocks only trail UConn (51 weeks) for the longest consecutive streak atop the Top 25.