Sports briefs
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Cowboys rework Dak Prescott’s contract to reduce massive cap hit slightly
FRISCO, Texas | The Dallas Cowboys are slightly reducing quarterback Dak Prescott’s massive salary cap hit by reworking his contract going into the final year of the deal, a person with knowledge of the move said Monday.
A $5 million roster bonus has been converted into a signing bonus to reduce the 2024 cap hit by $4 million, to about $55 million, the person told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the club doesn’t release details of contracts. The move was first reported by ESPN.
The Cowboys can create more salary cap relief with an extension for Prescott, who is coming off a wild-card loss at home to Green Bay that dropped his playoff record to 2-5.
While Jerry Jones has said the club plans to keep Prescott, the team owner and general manager hasn’t struck the same definitive tone he did in 2021 before signing his franchise QB to a club-record $160 million, four-year contract.
The reworking of the contract included adding two more voidable years in 2027 and 2028, which pushed Prescott’s salary cap number in 2025 up slightly to $40 million.
The Cowboys have been quiet in free agency in part because of looming paydays for All-Pro receiver CeeDee Lamb and star pass rusher Micah Parsons, the 2021 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.
Committing to Prescott beyond the coming season would make it easier to get deals done with Lamb and Parsons.
The only addition for Dallas from another team so far is linebacker Eric Kendricks on a one-year deal worth up to $3.5 million. The Cowboys added Kendricks while releasing linebacker Leighton Vander Esch, their 2018 first-round pick, on a failed physical designation after another neck injury last season.
Prescott, a three-time Pro Bowler, has started ever since the beginning of his rookie year after Tony Romo was injured during the preseason in 2016. Prescott went from unheralded fourth-round pick to the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year while leading Dallas to the top seed in the NFC playoffs.
The Cowboys lost Prescott’s playoff debut to Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers, and they haven’t advanced past the divisional round in four other tries since then. Dallas hasn’t been to an NFC championship game since the last of the franchise’s five Super Bowl titles to cap the 1995 season.
Bills sign nickel back Taron Johnson to a three-year contract extension
The Buffalo Bills signed nickel cornerback Taron Johnson to a three-year contract extension on Monday, locking him up through the 2027 season.
Johnson, 27, who is coming off his first All-Pro selection, was entering the final season of a three-year extension signed in 2021. He was selected by Buffalo in the fourth round of the 2018 draft out of Weber State and has played a starting role since 2020.
The extension provides the Bills a level of continuity in what will be a vastly revamped secondary.
Starting cornerback Tre’Davious White and starting safety Jordan Poyer were cut two weeks ago, and starting safety Micah Hyde is contemplating retirement. The trio had been together since 2017.
Last season, Johnson was credited with having a hand in 98 tackles and forced three fumbles, both career highs, and a sack. His best game came in 14-9 win over the New York Giants on Oct. 15, when he had a career-high 15 tackles and broke up a pass into the end zone on the final play.
Overall, he has four interceptions, seven forced fumbles and seven sacks in 88 career games, including 67 starts.
Steelers sign special
teams ace Killebrew,
WR Van Jefferson
PITTSBURGH | The Pittsburgh Steelers signed special teams ace Miles Killebrew to a two-year contract on Monday and also came to terms with wide receiver Van Jefferson on a one-year deal.
Killebrew, a safety, earned All-Pro honors for the first time as a special teams selection in 2023. He collected 13 tackles in kick coverage and blocked a punt that turned into a momentum-shifting safety in a victory over Baltimore on Oct. 8.
The 30-year-old Killebrew also played 111 snaps on defense, his highest total since joining the Steelers in 2021 after five seasons in Detroit.
Jefferson joins Pittsburgh after splitting time between Atlanta and the Los Angeles Rams last season. The 27-year-old Jefferson has 113 career receptions for 1,600 yards and 10 touchdowns in 61 career games, most of them with the Rams.
The Steelers are in serious need of depth at wide receiver after trading Diontae Johnson to Carolina last week and letting Miles Boykin go in free agency, leaving George Pickens and Calvin Austin as the only receivers on the roster who caught passes with the team in 2023.
UConn back at No. 1 in
AP Top 25 ahead of repeat bid in March Madness
Reigning national champion Connecticut is back at No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll a day after being named the top overall seed for the NCAA Tournament.
The Huskies moved up from No. 2 in Monday’s poll, trading spots with Houston after the Cougars’ lopsided loss in the Big 12 Tournament title game to Iowa State. UConn received 61 of 62 first-place votes to return to No. 1 for the first time since a six-week stint in January and February.
UConn (31-3) has lost just once since Dec. 20 and won its first Big East Tournament title since 2011 on Saturday. Then came a No. 1 regional seed in the NCAAs for the first time since a Final Four run in 2009 and sixth time overall.
The Huskies, who top the East Region bracket, are trying to become college basketball’s first repeat champion since Florida in 2006 and 2007.
“We’ve got a bunch of NBA players — we’ve got NBA-level talent that’s willing to screen and share and play for each other on offense,” coach Dan Hurley said after a win against St. John’s in the Big East semifinals. “And it’s a unique group of players that have NBA ability, but are humble and about team.”
THE TOP TIER
Big 12 regular-season champ Houston still received a first-place vote despite its tournament stumble, while Purdue remained at No. 3 after falling to Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.
Iowa State jumped three spots to No. 4 for the program’s highest ranking since spending a week at No. 4 in December 2015. The Cyclones were unranked this season until Jan. 15.
North Carolina is No. 5. The Tar Heels won the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title but fell in the ACC Tournament final to cap rival North Carolina State’s shocking title run.
Of that group, the Cougars (South), Boilermakers (Midwest) and Tar Heels (West) earned top NCAA regional seeds.
Tennessee, Auburn, Marquette, Arizona and Illinois rounded out the top 10, with the Tigers winning the Southeastern Conference Tournament and the Illini claiming the Big Ten title behind a scoring binge from Terrence Shannon Jr.
RISING AND FALLING
Saint Mary’s had the biggest jump of the week, climbing six spots to No. 15 after beating Gonzaga for the West Coast Conference Tournament title. Auburn was next by moving up five spots to No. 7, creating a significant disparity with the NCAA selection committee that gave the Tigers a No. 4 regional seed in UConn’s East bracket.
More than half of the poll teams (13) slid after the chaos from league tournaments. Arizona, No. 11 Creighton, No. 12 Kentucky and No. 25 Washington State all tied for the biggest tumbles by falling three spots.
IN AND OUT
No. 23 Wisconsin and No. 24 San Diego State were the new additions to the poll, though both have been ranked in multiple weeks this season. Nevada (No. 23) and Dayton (No. 24) fell out to make room for the Badgers and Aztecs.
CONFERENCE WATCH
The Big 12 had a national-best six ranked teams, including No. 17 Kansas, No. 21 BYU and No. 22 Texas Tech. The SEC was next with five, including No. 16 South Carolina.
The Big East and Big Ten each had three ranked teams, while the ACC, Pac-12, Mountain West and West Coast conferences each had two.
ONE MORE TO GO
For the first time, The Associated Press will release a post-tournament Top 25 after the national championship game. It will be released April 9, the day after the title game in Glendale, Arizona.
Former Olympian Caitlyn Jenner backs New York county’s ban
MINEOLA, N.Y. | Olympic gold medalist Caitlyn Jenner on Monday said she supported a local New York official’s order banning female sports teams with transgender athletes from using county-owned facilities.
The ban applies to over 100 athletic facilities in New York City’s Long Island suburbs. Speaking alongside Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman at his office in Mineola, Jenner said allowing transgender athletes like herself to compete against other women will “ruin women’s sports” for years to come.
“Let’s stop it now while we can,” said the reality television star, who came out as a transgender woman in 2015.
The LGBT Network, a Long Island-based advocacy group, called Jenner’s comments a “baffling contradiction” to her own identity as a transgender woman that is “not only hypocritical but also harmful” to the LGBTQ community.
“It is disheartening to witness someone who has experienced the challenges of being marginalized actively contribute to the oppression of others within the same community,” David Kilmnick, the group’s president, said in a statement. “Such actions only serve to amplify the voices of intolerance and detract from the collective efforts towards a more inclusive society.”
Blakeman, a Republican elected in 2022, issued an executive order in February requiring any teams, leagues or organizations seeking a permit from the county’s parks and recreation department to “expressly designate” whether they are for male, female or coed athletes.
Any teams designated as “female” would be denied permits if they allow transgender athletes to participate.
The ban doesn’t apply to men’s teams with transgender athletes. It covers all Nassau County-owned facilities, including ballfields, basketball and tennis courts, swimming pools and ice rinks.
Jenner, 74, competed against men when she won the Olympic gold medal in the decathlon in 1976. She said she has “sympathy” for LGBTQ people and “understands their struggles” but argued that allowing transgender people to compete with women would undermine gains female athletes achieved under Title IX, a law banning sex discrimination in programs that receive federal funds.
“All I’m trying to do is protect women,” Jenner said Monday.
Jenner, a supporter of former President Donald Trump, has been a vocal opponent of transgender athletes competing in women’s sports. A New York native, she has long lived in the Los Angeles area and ran unsuccessfully for California governor as a Republican in 2021.
Blakeman has argued the ban is intended to both foster fair play and protect girls and women from getting injured if they play against transgender women. His executive order, however, also covers sports like swimming, gymnastics, figure skating and track, where there is no physical contact between competitors.
The executive order also takes decisions about who can play out of the hands of leagues and gives it to the government.
The Long Island Roller Rebels, a local women’s roller derby league, asked a New York court to invalidate the county order, saying it violates the state’s anti-discrimination laws.
The New York Civil Liberties Union, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of the league, called Jenner’s appearance “another disgraceful attempt” to target and villainize transgender women and girls. Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, said Blakeman’s order is “transphobic and discriminatory” and violates state law.
Blakeman has filed his own lawsuit asking a federal court in New York to affirm that the order was legal.
The order is part of a growing number of anti-transgender athletic restrictions imposed nationwide. Bills banning trans youth from participating in sports have passed in some 24 states, though some have been blocked by ongoing litigation.
—From AP reports
