Blount signs with Eagles
LeGarrette Blount and the Philadelphia Eagles agreed on a one-year contract Wednesday, giving the team a bruising back to complement its group of smaller, speedy runners.
Blount led the NFL with 18 touchdowns rushing last season while helping the New England Patriots win the Super Bowl. He ran for 1,161 yards, averaging 3.6 per carry.
Blount, 30, is the latest playmaker the Eagles have added. They also signed wide receivers Alshon Jeffery and former 49er Torrey Smith.
Darren Sproles, second-year pro Wendell Smallwood and rookie Donnel Pumphrey will team with Blount in the backfield.
The Patriots will receive a compensatory draft pick for losing Blount.
Running back Leonard Fournette signed his rookie contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars. The fourth overall pick in last month’s draft out of LSU signed a four-year deal that, according to the NFL’s rookie salary system, is expected to be worth more than $27 million and include an $18 million signing bonus.
The Pittsburgh Steelers signed second-round pick Juju Smith-Schuster out of USC to a four-year deal. The Steelers also signed quarterback Bart Houston (a De La SalleConcord grad) and wide receiver Canaan Severin and released quarterback Nick Schuessler and linebacker Akil Blount.
Free agent defensive back Jason McCourty signed a two-year deal with the Cleveland Browns after playing past eight seasons with Tennessee. The Browns also signed kicker Zane Gonzalez, drafted in the seventh round out of Arizona State, to his four-year rookie contract.
Prosecutors in Gainesville, Fla., dismissed a misdemeanor battery complaint against Cleveland sixth-round pick Caleb Brantley, a defensive tackle from Florida, citing insufficient evidence.
Two-time Super Bowl champion Leonard Marshall and three-time Pro Bowl selection Matt Hasselbeck, both retired, say they will donate their brains to the Concussion Legacy Foundation.
College basketball: Stanford forward Reid Travis has been given an extra year of eligibility because of a medical hardship. Travis now has two years of eligibility remaining after the NCAA granted his petition Wednesday. Travis missed the final 22 games of the 2015-16 season because of a leg injury.
Travis was a first-team All-Pac-12 selection last season after averaging 17.4 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. He enters next season as the leading returning scorer and rebounder in the conference. Lawsuit: A new federal lawsuit against Baylor University alleges football players routinely recorded gang rapes and staged dogfights. A former Baylor volleyball player identified only as Jane Doe alleges in the lawsuit that she was gang-raped by four or more players in 2012. She says they later harassed her and her family. The lawsuit doesn’t identify any players. Horse racing: The two best horses in the Preakness Stakes will be eyeball-to-eyeball coming out of the starting gate. Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming is the early 4-5 favorite for Saturday’s race at Pimlico, where he’ll break from the No. 4 post. Classic Empire is the 3-1 second choice and will be right next door in the No. 5 hole.