Eagles, DT Fletcher Cox agree on 1-year deal
The Philadelphia Eagles and six-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Fletcher Cox have agreed on a $10 million, one-year contract, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the team hasn’t announced the agreement.
A first-round pick in 2012, Cox has been one of the league’s best inside defensive linemen for a decade. Cox has 65 sacks in 11 seasons, including seven in 2022 for the league’s No. 2 ranked defense.
Keeping Cox helps the NFC champion Eagles offset the loss of defensive tackle Javon Hargrave in free agency.
Philadelphia also has lost linebackers T.J. Edwards and Kyzir White and safety Marcus Epps to other teams.
Earlier Wednesday, the Eagles informed five-time Pro Bowl cornerback Darius Slay that he will be released, a person with knowledge of that decision told the AP.
Slay posted a goodbye on Twitter: “Nothing but love Philly!! Lets see where we heading next.”
A day after losing their best receiver, the Patriots have a new No. 1 target.
According to a source, free-agent wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster is expected to sign with Patriots on a 3-year, $33 million deal, per the NFL Network.
Smith-Schuster, 26, is coming off a rebound season in Kansas City, where he caught 78 passes for 933 yards and three touchdowns last year. His addition will help offset the loss of Jakobi Meyers, who left to sign a 3-year deal with the Raiders on Tuesday. Smith-Schuster would jump to the top of the Pats’ receiver depth chart, joining DeVante Parker, Kendrick Bourne and Tyquan Thornton.
Safety Jordan Poyer has elected to stay put by reaching a two-year agreement to resign with the Buffalo Bills after briefly testing free agency.
Poyer’s return immediately solidifies Buffalo’s secondary, which stood to lose a key leader and contributor who spent much of the previous six seasons forming one of the NFL’s top safety tandems in playing alongside
Micah Hyde.
And it comes at a time with the Bills defense in transition following starting middle linebacker Tremaine Edmunds’ expected departure in free agency, and with coordinator Leslie Frazier choosing to take next season off from coaching.
The agreement represents a key free agency victory for the three-time defending AFC East champion Bills, who entered the signing period with a limited amount of salary cap space. Buffalo was projected to have about $20 million to work with after spending the past few days freeing up more than $40 million in space by restructuring the contracts of quarterback Josh Allen, edge rusher Von Miller, receiver Stefon Diggs and signing linebacker Matt Milano to a two-year contract extension.
The Cleveland Browns have reached agreement with former Kansas City Chiefs free agent safety Juan Thornhill on a contract.
Thornhill is getting a three-year, $21 million deal, said the person who spoke on condition of anonymity because the 27-year-old has not yet signed.
Thornhill, who had a career-high 71 tackles last season, is the third defensive player joining by the Browns in free agency. Earlier, the team announced the signings of run stopper Dalvin Tomlinson and end Ogbonnia Okoronkwo.
The 27-year-old Thornhill had five tackles in Kansas City’s Super Bowl win over Philadelphia.
The Browns were in the market for a starting safety after releasing John Johnson III after two seasons.
Thornhill spent four seasons with the Chiefs, who drafted him in the second round in 2019 out of Virginia. He started 52 games, finishing with eight interceptions and 234 tackles.
NASCAR FINES HENDRICK
NASCAR levied the largest combined fine on one team in series history, hammering Hendrick Motorsports for modifying air-deflecting pieces last weekend at Phoenix Raceway.
Hendrick was issued a combined $400,000 in fines — $100,000 to each of its four crew chiefs, along with four-race suspensions for the quartet — and docked the drivers 100 regular-season points and 10 playoffs points each. Although NASCAR has issued larger monetary fines and suspensions, the Hendrick penalties are the largest combined punishment for one organization.
NASCAR’s winningest team said it would appeal. William Byron has won back-to-back races for Hendrick to give HMS two wins through the first four races of the season, and Alex Bowman was the Cup Series points leader prior to his 100-point deduction.
U.S. SHOT PUTTER BANNED
Raven Saunders, the U.S. silver-medal shot putter who used her triumph at the Tokyo Olympics to bring attention to social injustice, has been suspended for 18 months for failing to show up for doping tests.
The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency announced the sanction for the 26-year-old, saying she had committed three “whereabouts failures” within a 12-month period ending on Aug. 15. She will miss this year’s world championships, but would be eligible for the Paris Olympics next year.
Saunders often comes to meets with brightly colored hair and wearing an “Incredible Hulk” mask. At the end of the medal presentation at the 2021 Olympics, she stepped off the podium and formed an “X” with her wrists. She explained the “X” stood for “the intersection of where all people who are oppressed meet.”
Saunders has been outspoken about growing up in poverty and her bouts with depression. She went to the University of Mississippi, is a four-time NCAA champion and won USATF’s Humanitarian Award in 2021.
Saunders joins a growing list of high-profile athletes who have been banned for missed tests, including world-champion sprinters Christian Coleman and Salwa Eid Naser. While a series of missed tests can lead to bans, they are not considered proof that an athlete was using prohibited substances.