Sports briefs
By NewsPress Now
Colts agree to three-year deal with Michael Pittman Jr.
INDIANAPOLIS | Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard did everything he could to keep receiver Michael Pittman Jr. off this year’s free agent market.
On Monday, he completed the job.
Two weeks after promising Pittman would be in Indy next season — one way or the other — the two sides were closing in on a three-year, $70 million deal with $46 million in guarantees, a person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal is being finalized.
It was no surprise given Ballard’s repeated praise of Pittman’s productivity, toughness over the middle and leadership inside the locker room. And at age 26, there’s still room for growth, too.
“He wants to win and when you’re a good player, part of that is you want the football,” Ballard said during the NFL’s annual scouting combine. “I don’t know if I want to be around a guy that doesn’t want the ball. That’s OK. There’s a way to do it, a right way to do it, but it’s one of the things I appreciate about Pitt. The one thing you never have to worry about with that guy is he empties the tank. He absolutely empties the tank.”
Incentives could add another $1.5 million to the deal’s total value.
When Pittman last spoke, in January, he said his agent wanted to wait until after the season to resume negotiations.
Ballard, meanwhile, continually said he hoped to complete a fair-market deal with Pittman before free agency officially opens Wednesday. It was Ballard’s top offseason priority.
“I know we’re going to have a few free agents you’re all going to want to talk about and I’m probably going to give you the same answer — I would like to have them all back,” Ballard said in January. “But it doesn’t work that way. It’s just the nature of what we do. Pitt is a good football player for us and hopefully he remains a Colt.”
Pittman has 336 catches, 3,636 yards and 15 TDs and 11 carries for 100 yards and four more scores since the Colts drafted him No. 30 overall in 2020.
He’s also coming off his best season in Indy. He had 109 receptions and 1,152 yards, both career bests, to go with four TD catches. Pittman became the fourth player in franchise history with 100 receptions in one season while logging his second 1,000-yard season despite missing one full game and part of another following a scary hit that resulted in a concussion and the ejection of Pittsburgh Steelers safety Damontae Kazee.
Still, Pittman wanted to see what he was worth.
“Speaking to the contract stuff, I made it this far so — I’ve loved my four years here,” Pittman said at the end of last season. “But I wouldn’t be doing my due diligence if I didn’t explore every option and find the best fit.”
Yet Ballard remained hopeful of reaching a multi-year deal with the former Southern California star and the son of a Super Bowl champion.
The deal assures Indy will keep its three most prominent playmakers — quarterback Anthony Richardson, 2021 NFL rushing champion Jonathan Taylor and Pittman — together through at least 2026. Richardson was the No. 4 overall pick in last year’s draft.
Last season, injuries limited that trio to only two snaps together.
Taylor opened the season on the physically unable to perform list with a lingering ankle injury.
Richardson only appeared in four games and only finished one because of injuries. He had season-ending shoulder surgery in October and has recently resumed throwing.
Ballard’s job may only be beginning, too.
Pro Bowl cornerback Kenny Moore II, starting defensive tackle Grover Stewart and starting safety Julian Blackmon also could hit the open market Wednesday. Plus, quarterback Gardner Minshew and running back Zack Moss can become free agents after playing productive roles in backing up Richardson and Taylor in 2023.
Giants reach three-year deal with former Packers OL Jon Runyan Jr.
EAST RUTHEFORD, N.J. | On a day the New York Giants lost star running back Saquon Barkley in free agency, general manager Joe Schoen bolstered his team’s weak offensive line by agreeing to terms with former Green Bay Packers guard Jon Runyan Jr.
Runyan will sign a three-year, $30 million contract with $17 million guaranteed, according to a person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because free agents can’t officially sign with new teams until Wednesday.
The 26-year-old Runyan has spent the past four seasons with Green Bay, starting this past season at right guard and at left guard the two before that. He was one of the league’s top rated guards in pass protection.
The Giants, who missed the playoffs in 2023 with a 6-11 record, allowed a franchise-high 85 sacks in 2023, the second-highest total in NFL history.
Schoen came into the season looking to improve his line, particularly at the guard spot and right tackle. He now also needs a running back.
Runyan, who played at Michigan, is the son of former Philadelphia Eagles tackle Jon Runyan Sr., who was noted for his battles with Hall of Fame defensive end Michael Strahan.
Earlier in the day, Barkley agreed to terms with the Eagles on a three-year contract.
Barkley, who tweeted two eagle emojis on Monday, hit free agency after the Giants elected not to put a franchise on the 2018 AP Offensive Rookie of the Year. The team used the tag last season and eventually worked out a one-year, $10.1 million contract before the start of training camp.
Defensive tackle Christian Wilkins agrees to a four-year deal with Raiders
HENDERSON, Nev. | The Las Vegas Raiders received a major boost to their interior defensive line on Monday when tackle Christian Wilkins agreed to a four-year, $110 contract.
Of that amount, $84.75 million will be guaranteed, agent David Mulugheta said.
Wilkins, 28, can sign the contract on Wednesday when the new league year begins. Players were able to agree to terms with teams beginning Monday.
Wilkins played his first five seasons for the Miami Dolphins, with whom he became one of the NFL’s top run stoppers. He set a league record in 2022 for his position with 98 tackles. The Raiders were 20th last season in run defense, allowing 118.5 yards per game.
Wilkins’ ability to get to the quarterback had been questioned after he recorded 11 1/2 sacks through his first four seasons. However, he made a career-high nine sacks last season, fourth among tackles.
That should make Wilkins a nice complement to ends Maxx Crosby and Malcolm Koonce, who combined to make 22 1/2 sacks last season. The Raiders also have 2023 first-round pick Tyree Wilson, who was moved inside, where he showed promise, but he still needs to improve on his 3 1/2 sacks.
Wilkins, a 2019 first-round draft pick, has started 77 games over five seasons.
Coco Gauff overcomes shaky start to beat Lucia Bronzetti
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. | Coco Gauff gave herself an early birthday present by beating Lucia Bronzetti 6-2, 7-6 (5) on Monday in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open.
Gauff, who turns 20 on Wednesday, struggled early but found a way to hold her serve by saving 10 of 11 break points. She closed out the match with a serve into the body that Bronzetti couldn’t return. It extended Gauff’s winning streak in the United States to 18 matches, a run that includes winning the title at last year’s U.S. Open.
Bronzetti had a chance to force a third set when she broke Gauff to take a 5-4 lead in the tiebreaker. Gauff won the next three points.
Gauff could end up facing Naomi Osaka in the round of 16. Osaka, the former World No. 1, is playing in the fifth tournament of her return after her maternity leave in 2023. She was facing Elise Mertens later Monday.
On the men’s side, Holger Rune played his first match of the tournament and beat Lorenzo Musetti 6-2, 7-6 (5) to advance to the round of 16. Rune had a bye in the first round and advanced through the second when Milos Raonic withdrew with an injury.
The night matches included top seed Novak Djokovic taking on Luca Nardi and Daniil Medvedev facing American Sebastian Korda.
Two dogs die during 1,000-mile Iditarod, prompting call from PETA
ANCHORAGE, Alaska | Two dogs died over the weekend during Alaska’s annual Iditarod sled dog race, marking the first deaths during the race in five years and renewing calls to end the 1,000-mile competition that sees mushers and their canine teams traverse mountain ranges, a frozen river and sea ice — often during treacherous weather.
Bog, a 2-year-old male on musher Issac Teaford’s team, collapsed Sunday morning about 200 feet short of the checkpoint in the village of Nulato, a former Russian trading post located 582 miles into the race across the Alaska wilderness. He died despite a veterinarian performing CPR for about 20 minutes.
A second dog, George, a 4-year-old male on musher Hunter Keefe’s team, also collapsed and died despite attempts to revive him, a race statement said.
George died on the trail about 35 miles outside of the village of Kaltag, which is 629 miles into the race.
A necropsy did not determine a cause of death for Bog, and the Iditarod said further testing will be conducted. A necropsy on George will also be conducted.
Keefe, of Knik, and Teaford, of Salt Lake City, both voluntarily quit the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Sunday. Under the race rules, they risked being withdrawn by the race marshal otherwise.
The last dog to die during the annual race was Oshi, a 5-year-old female on musher Richie Beattie’s team, in 2019. At a post-race checkup, veterinarians found signs of pneumonia in the dog. She was flown to Anchorage for care but later died.
Both Keefe and Teaford are fairly inexperienced in running the Iditarod, one of the world’s longest sled dog races. Teaford is a rookie and Keefe was in his second race after finishing 11th last year.
The dogs’ deaths on Sunday prompted People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, long the Iditarod’s biggest critic, to call for race’s end.
“The death count keeps climbing for dogs who are forced to run until their bodies break down, all so the human winner can get a trophy while the dogs get an icy grave,” PETA Senior Vice President Colleen O’Brien said in a statement. “PETA is calling for this despicable race to end.”
PETA has claimed more than 150 dogs have died in the Iditarod, but race officials have never provided an official count of dogs that have died since the first race was held in 1973.
The organization conducted a protest outside the convention center where the mushers’ banquet was held before the ceremonial start of the race March 2 in Anchorage.
An Iditarod spokesperson did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on PETA’s call.
PETA has also targeted race sponsors to end their support of the race in recent years. Companies that have quit sponsorship include Alaska Airlines, ExxonMobil, Wells Fargo and Chrysler, through an Anchorage dealership.
The organization earlier called for musher Dallas Seavey to be removed from this year’s race after his dog Faloo was injured in an encounter with a moose shortly after the race started. PETA claims he delayed care for the dog. Seavey was given a two-hour time penalty for not properly gutting the moose after he shot it.
“Mushers’ prioritization of victory over dogs’ wellbeing is everything that’s wrong with the Iditarod,” PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman said in a statement.
In the months leading up to this year’s race, five other dogs died and eight were injured after snowmobiles hit the dog teams during training runs.
Despite the time penalty, Seavey had a healthy lead Monday morning. GPS tracking on the Iditarod Insider webpage showed him with a 16-mile lead over the second-place musher, Jessie Holmes.
Seavey, who was about 155 miles from the finish, is trying to win his sixth championship. He’s currently tied with Rick Swenson for the most wins at five each.
The race, which takes about 10 days, started with 38 mushers at the ceremonial start in Anchorage. Since then, five have left the grueling race.
The route takes mushers over two mountain ranges, along the frozen Yukon River and the Bering Sea ice before ending in the Gold Rush town of Nome.
The winner is expected by mid-week in Nome.
—From AP reports
