NFL
HENDERSON, Nev. (AP)Quarterback Derek Carr was released by the Las Vegas Raiders on Tuesday as the club evaluates its future at the position.
The move was expected after Carr was benched with two games remaining this season because the Raiders would have owed him $40.4 million in guaranteed money over the next two years if he remained on the roster beyond Tuesday. By releasing Carr, the Raiders’ salary dead cap hit will be $5.6 million next season.
Las Vegas tried to work out a trade with the New Orleans Saints, and Carr visited the team last week. He exercised his no-trade clause and turned down the deal Sunday because Carr didn’t want to take a pay reduction, a person with knowledge of the situation said at the time. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to comment publicly.
Now Carr, who turns 32 on March 28, will see what he’s worth on the open market, and there is little doubt there will be interest in the nine-year veteran given how many teams need to upgrade at quarterback.
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) – The Arizona Cardinals hired Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon on Tuesday to be their next head coach.
Gannon replaces Kliff Kingsbury, who was fired last month after going 4-13 in his fourth season. Gannon becomes Arizona’s fourth coach in seven years and the second Eagles coordinator to become a head coach after Shane Steichen was hired by Indianapolis on Tuesday.
The 40-year-old Gannon has been Philadelphia’s defensive coordinator the past two seasons, helping rebuild a defense that helped the Eagles reach the Super Bowl last Sunday. The Eagles lost to Kansas City 38-35 at State Farm Stadium, home of the Cardinals.
The Eagles had the NFL’s No. 2 defense this season and the third-most sacks in NFL history with 78 under Gannon in 2022. Philadelphia led the NFL with 70 sacks this season – 15 more than any other team.
Gannon’s resume took a bit of a hit during the Super Bowl. The Eagles coughed up a 10-point halftime lead and couldn’t stop Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes, even though the MVP wasn’t moving at his best because of a sprained ankle.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – The Indianapolis Colts have hired Shane Steichen as their head coach.
The move announced Tuesday ends a search that took more than a month, involved more than a dozen candidates and finally gives the Colts some direction in what still appears to be a tumultuous offseason. A news conference was scheduled for later in the day.
Each of Indy’s last two full-time hires were offensive coordinators for Philadelphia Eagles teams that made the Super Bowl. Frank Reich was hired in 2018 after the Eagles won their first championship since 1960 but was fired in October as the Colts’ season started to unravel.
He was replaced by interim coach Jeff Saturday, who won his first game but lost the final seven to give Indy the No. 4 overall draft pick. Saturday was one of the finalists for the full-time job.
Now, though, the Colts seem to be changing directions again, this time likely with a young, promising quarterback. That’s a major reason team owner Jim Irsay and general manager Chris Ballard, who led the lengthy search, sought out the 37-year-old Steichen.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
New Mexico State fired basketball coach Greg Heiar on Tuesday in the wake of hazing allegations within the team that shut down the program for the rest of the season.
Chancellor Dan Arvizu announced the firing of the first-year coach and said ”hazing has no place on our campus, and those found responsible will be held accountable for their actions.”
The chancellor said decisions about the rest of the coaching staff will be made after further investigation.
Arvizu shut down the program for the season on Sunday, after reviewing a campus police report in which an Aggies player said three teammates ganged up on him and attacked him. The report, which redacted the names of the players, included allegations of false imprisonment, harassment and criminal sexual contact.
The 47-year-old Heiar spent time earlier in his career as an assistant for former Aggies coach Chris Jans, who left after last season to coach Mississippi State. Last season, Heiar was at Northwest Florida State, where he helped the Raiders win the junior college national title.
NBA
Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo is teaming up with his brothers once again on All-Star Saturday. Portland’s Damian Lillard is taking a third shot at the 3-point title, Indiana’s Buddy Hield will aim to win that one again and Philadelphia’s Mac McClung now can be a slam-dunk champion at the NBA and high school levels.
The NBA released the full list of participants for All-Star Saturday’s events in Salt Lake City – the Skills Competition, the 3-point contest and the dunk contest. It’ll be a particularly busy weekend for 11 players who are now slotted to be in multiple events during the three days of action in Utah.
BASEBALL
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) – Spring training games might be a little ugly this year, particularly during the first few weeks.
For Major League Baseball, that’s a feature, not a bug.
The Grapefruit and Cactus League games in Florida and Arizona over the next month will be used as a petri dish for the sport’s rule changes, including a pitch clock, bigger bases and limits to infield shifts. The idea is that the worst kinks will be worked out before opening day on March 30.
Though there’s multiple innovations, one stands above the rest.
The pitch clock has been tested for a few years at the minor league level. Pitchers will have 15 seconds to deliver their pitch with no runners on base and 20 seconds when runners are on base. There will be 30 seconds between batters and 2 minutes, 15 seconds between innings.
MLB games averaged 3 hours, 4 minutes last season following the introduction of the PitchCom electronic device to signal pitches, down from a record 3:10 in 2021. Sword said MLB’s research indicates fans prefer games that are around 2:30.
The pitch clock’s effect on minor league games in 2022 was substantial. Games that used the clock were, on average, 25 minutes shorter than those that did not.
