NFL
The Baltimore Ravens put the nonexclusive franchise tag on Lamar Jackson on Tuesday, preventing him from becoming an unrestricted free agent this month but allowing him to negotiate with other teams.
The deadline for teams to apply the franchise tag was Tuesday. The Ravens were always expected to use it if they didn’t reach a long-term deal with Jackson first. The main question was whether they’d use the nonexclusive tag or the exclusive one.
Baltimore could have prevented Jackson from negotiating with anyone else by using the exclusive tag, but that could have cost significantly more. Instead, Jackson would make $32.4 million if he plays this season on the nonexclusive tag.
Before that happens, Jackson and the Ravens can keep negotiating, and other teams can join in the bidding as well. Baltimore would have a chance to match any agreement between Jackson and another team, and if the Ravens chose not to match, they’d receive two first-round draft picks in return.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — After days of intense, down-to-the wire negotiations, the New York Giants agreed to a four-year contract with quarterback Daniel Jones on Tuesday and put a franchise tag on running back Saquon Barkley.
The Giants confirmed the deal with Jones Tuesday night. The agreement with his agents was reached with the franchise tag deadline minutes away.
With Jones under contract, the Giants used their franchise tag on running back Saquon Barkley.
The long-term contract allows the Giants to sharply reduce Jones’ cap number in this and subsequent seasons.
Barkley’s tag is nonexclusive, which means he’s able to negotiate with other teams in addition to the Giants. New York would have the right to match any team’s offer and would receive two first-round draft picks if it decided not to match.
The No. 2 overall pick in the 2018 draft and the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year that season would earn just over $10 million playing on the franchise tag.
NBA
LOS ANGELES (AP) — When Pau Gasol joined the Los Angeles Lakers just over 15 years ago, the Spanish 7-footer banished his ego, redoubled his work ethic and immediately turned this team into contenders who eventually became champions.
Gasol and Kobe Bryant did it all together, and their numbers now hang side by side in the Lakers’ arena.
The Lakers retired Gasol’s No. 16 jersey Tuesday night, honoring the genteel big man who spent the best seasons of his 18-year NBA career with Bryant in Los Angeles. The Lakers reached three straight NBA Finals after Gasol’s arrival in February 2008, winning championships in 2009 and 2010.
Gasol’s banner was unveiled during a halftime ceremony that began with Bryant’s widow, Vanessa, introducing a video in which an excited Kobe said he was looking forward to the day when Gasol gave a speech at center court during his jersey retirement. Gasol choked up while watching the video and standing in that exact spot, wiping tears from his eyes before he spoke to the crowd.
Gasol’s versatile game complemented Bryant’s scoring prowess perfectly when Gasol decided to be a supporting player to a fellow superstar, and the two also formed a deep off-court friendship that endured to Bryant’s death in 2020.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. (AP) — Ziggy Reid scored 23 points, Jordan Minor had 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists and Merrimack closed on an 8-0 run to beat Fairleigh Dickinson 67-66 on Tuesday night to capture the Northeast Conference Tournament championship.
Merrimack (18-16), which is ineligible for the NCAA Tournament due to a four-year transition to Division I, closed its season on an 11-game winning streak. Fairleigh Dickinson (19-15) had already secured the conference’s automatic bid in the Big Dance but was seeking its seventh NEC Tournament title.
Javon Bennett added 11 points and Jordan Derkack had eight points and 12 rebounds for top-seeded Merrimack. Minor, the NEC co-player of the year, was 8 of 17 from the field and he also had three blocks.
SOCCER
LONDON (AP) — American midfielder Christian Pulisic returned from a two-month injury layoff, entering in the 83rd minute of Chelsea’s 2-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday night that advanced the London team to the Champions League quarterdinals.
Pulisic replaced Mateo Kovačić with Chelsea leading 2-0. Pulisic had not played since injuring his right knee during a tackle by Manchester City defender John Stones in a Premier League match on Jan. 5.
American midfielder Gio Reyna entered in the fifth minute for Dortmund after Julian Brandt was injured.
Chelsea, the 2021 champion, advanced on 2-1 aggregate and reached the quarterfinals for the third straight year.
BADMINTON
The federation that runs Olympic badminton in the United States reached a $1 million settlement with an employee who contended he was terminated for going against leadership’s wishes and filing a complaint about sex-abuse allegations to the U.S. Center for SafeSport.
The agreement to pay former chief of staff Alistair Casey was signed by USA Badminton CEO Linda French and Casey in January. The Associated Press received a copy of the agreement, which was supposed to have been confidential but was first reported on by ESPN.
The case stemmed from a then-9-year-old allegation about a coach who had sex with a teenage player. Higher-ups at USA Badminton were debating whether to report to the SafeSport Center or go to police. Casey took the case to the center and later got fired “due to required cuts in USAB’s operating budget for the upcoming years,” according to an email he received informing him of his termination.
Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
