KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A person with knowledge of the deal says Jawaan Taylor has agreed to an $80 million, four-year contract with the Kansas City Chiefs to replace Orlando Brown Jr. as the blindside protector for Patrick Mahomes. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Monday because the deal cannot become official until Wednesday. The 25-year-old Taylor started all 66 games he’s played in since entering the league as a second-round pick of the Jaguars in the 2019 draft. He primarily held down the right side of the line in Jacksonville.
HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — A person with knowledge of the deal says quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo has agreed to a three-year, $67.5 million contract with the Las Vegas Raiders. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal can’t be announced until Wednesday. The person says Garoppolo’s contract includes $34 million in the guaranteed money. Garoppolo played for the San Francisco 49ers the past six seasons. He played for the New England Patriots for three years under then-offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, now the Raiders' head coach.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Each win on Texas’ march into the NCAA Tournament raises a recurring question about interim coach Rodney Terry and what more he still must do to earn the job on a permanent basis. The Longhorns are the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region after their best season since 2008. They finished second in the Big 12, won the conference tournament and routed regular season champion and No. 1 seed Kansas twice in the span of eight days. Yet the chatter around Terry seems to be he still has to prove himself over the next three weeks of March Madness.
UNDATED (AP) — Alabama is No. 1 in the final AP Top 25 men's college basketball poll of the season Houston is No. 2 and Big Ten champion Purdue was third. The Big 12 rounded out the top five with Kansas and Texas. Memphis and Florida Atlantic broke into the final Top 25 at the expense of Creighton and Kentucky.
UNDATED (AP) — Picking the NCAA Tournament bracket comes with plenty of potential pitfalls. How do you account for injuries at Houston and UCLA? Can defending champ Kansas make another run after losing handily in the Big 12 Tournament final? Is this the year you can trust the Big Ten? Here's a very preliminary Final Four pick: Alabama, Marquette, Houston and Gonzaga. Houston beats Alabama in the title game, giving the Cougars the championship on the 40th anniversary of Phi Slama Jama’s heartbreaking loss to N.C. State.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — March Madness isn’t just about filling out — and later trashing — brackets. There are more ways to bet the field in the NCAA Tournament, an event that will consume basketball fans over the next three weeks. Top-ranked Houston is the plus-120 favorite to emerge as the Midwest Region representative and play in Houston, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. That means a $100 bet pays $120. The next top team in the region is Texas at plus-450.
PHOENIX (AP) — Mike Trout hit a three-run homer, Lance Lynn threw five impressive innings and the United States used a nine-run first to cruise past Canada 12-1 at the World Baseball Classic. The game was called after seven innings because of the tournament’s 10-run mercy rule. The U.S. improved to 2-1 and bounced back from an 11-5 loss to Mexico on Sunday with its best offensive performance of the tournament. Canada fell to 1-1. In Miami, José De León and three relievers combined on a perfect pitching performance as Puerto Rico routed Israel 10-0 in a matchup called after eight innings because of the mercy rule. Puerto Rico didn't permit a baserunner, but it won't count as a perfect game in official WBC records because the game didn’t go nine innings.
UNDATED (AP) — Dick Fosbury, the lanky leaper who completely revamped the technical discipline of high jump and won an Olympic gold medal with his “Fosbury Flop,” has died at age 76. Fosbury died Sunday after a recurrence with lymphoma, according to publicist Ray Schulte. Before Fosbury, some high jumpers cleared their height by running parallel to bar, then leaping over with a scissors kick, with their faces pointed downward. At the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, Fosbury took off at an angle, leaped backward and bent himself into a “J” shape to catapult his 6-foot-4 frame over the bar. By the next Olympics, 28 of the 40 jumpers were using Fosbury’s technique. Today, it is by far the most-used technique for elite high jumpers across the globe.
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. Soccer Federation says Gregg Berhalter remains a candidate to stay on as men’s national team coach after a report by a law firm concluded he did not improperly withhold information about a 1992 domestic violence allegation involving the woman who later became his wife. The report also concluded that Berhalter’s conduct “likely constituted the misdemeanor crime of assault on a female” but that it was an isolated event. He can't be prosecuted because of the two-year statute of limitations for misdemeanors. The law firm Alston and Bird was retained after the Reyna family reported the 30-year-old incident to the USSF.
NEW YORK (AP) — Joe Pepitone, an All-Star and Gold Glove first baseman on the 1960s New York Yankees who gained renown for his flamboyant personality, hairpieces and penchant for nightlife, has died at age 82. Born in Brooklyn, Pepitone helped the Yankees to their second straight World Series title, a team led by Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Elston Howard. Pepitone gained attention for his off-the-field conduct. In a time when most players were staid and conformist, Pepitone was thought to be the first to bring a hair dryer into the clubhouse.
MONDAY SCORES
INTERLEAGUE
Final Atlanta 6 Baltimore 5
Final Washington 7 Houston 6
Final Oakland 8 Colorado 7
Final L.A. Dodgers 11 Cleveland 4
Final Arizona 11 Texas 8
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Minnesota 1 N.Y. Yankees 0
Final Baltimore 11 Detroit 7
Final Tampa Bay 9 Detroit 5
Final Toronto 16 Boston 3
Final L.A. Angels 8 Seattle 2
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final N.Y. Mets 9 Miami 3
Final Milwaukee 8 Cincinnati 0
Final San Francisco 11 San Diego 9
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final Detroit 117 Indiana 97
Final Minnesota 136 Atlanta 115
Final Memphis 104 Dallas 88
Final Miami 119 Utah 115
Final Houston 111 Boston 109
Final Milwaukee 133 Sacramento 124
Final Golden State 123 Phoenix 112
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final Buffalo 4 Toronto 3
Final Colorado 8 Montreal 4
Final Dallas 5 Seattle 2