KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Chiefs and wide receiver Sammy Watkins have agreed on a restructured one-year contract that gives the franchise much-needed salary cap relief. That’s according to a person familiar with the deal who spoke with The Associated Press on Friday. The person said Watkins will make $9 million in base salary but that incentives could drive the total package to $16 million. More important for the club, the deal will give the Chiefs about $5 million in salary cap savings ahead of the NFL draft.

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast with Jim Field.

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The St. Louis Cardinals are marking the team’s original home opener date on Thursday, April 2nd by encouraging fans to stay home and stay safe. The Club’s ‘Stay Home Opener’ includes a number of social media activations as well as the launch of the Club’s resources page, cardinals.com/support.

“We know our fans miss baseball, and we miss it too,” said Bill DeWitt III, Team President. “We would love to be celebrating our home opener tomorrow, but the current situation demands that we all help slow the spread of COVID-19 by staying at home and practicing social distancing. We hope our millions of fans will check out our website and social feeds which will celebrate some past home openers and also provide helpful links from our community partners on health and wellness issues.”

Community Support and Resources Web Page

The community resource web page (cardinals.com/support) houses comprehensive information on ways to support our community partners, as well as resources available for those in need. The website also incorporates a number of baseball-themed, educational activities for children.

The team is also working with its partners at FOX Sports Midwest and Anheuser-Busch on supporting the American Red Cross and the critical need for blood and platelet donations by promoting the need for healthy blood donors on their social media platforms.

In addition, Cardinals Care is working with Stan the Man, Inc. to support hunger relief efforts for the St. Louis Area Foodbank. Starting Thursday, fans who donate to the Step Up to the Plate campaign will be entered into a drawing to win one of several baseball-themed prizes.

Social Media Activations

As part of the ‘Stay Home Opener,’ the team encourages fans to show their team spirit by wearing St. Louis Cardinals gear and by sharing their Busch Stadium home opener memories on social media using #STLStayHomeOpener.

Digital and printable signs stating “I Stay Home For ________” will be available for download from the team’s website, providing people the opportunity to show support for medical professionals, emergency personnel and others in their thoughts during this time.

The team will engage with fans and influencers throughout the day across their @Cardinals social platforms, and will highlight exclusive Opening Day videos and photo collections from previous years.

Fans can visit cardinals.com/stayhomeopener for complete details about Thursday’s #STLStayHomeOpener and the team’s ongoing efforts to support the community.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Andy Reid is like most people these days. The Kansas City Chiefs coach is hunkered down in his basement trying to avoid going out in public as he works from a makeshift office consisting of a computer, an iPad and an old side table. The difference though: He’s trying to build a team that can defend a Super Bowl title. That means negotiating free agency and putting together a plan for the NFL draft still scheduled to take place later this month.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa senior Kathleen Doyle has been named to the WBCA All-America team, the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association announced Thursday.

Doyle is one of 10 student-athletes to be named a WBCA All-American, becoming the fourth Hawkeye in program history to earn the honor. Kachine Alexander, Samantha Logic, and Megan Gustafson were named WBCA All-Americans preceding Doyle.

The LaGrange Park, Illinois, native finished the season in the top-50 nationally in five statistical categories, including sixth in the nation in total assists (189), seventh in assists per game (6.3), 19th in free throws made (147), 37th in total points (544), and 49th in points per game (18.1).

Doyle has been named to three All-America teams, including Associated Press (third team), United States Basketball Writers Association (third team), and Women’s Basketball Coaches Association.

The complete list of WBCA All-Americans can be found here.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Junior Luka Garza became the first University of Iowa men’s basketball player to be named to the John Wooden Award All-America Team. The announcement was made on Wednesday by The Los Angeles Athletic Club.

Joining Garza on the elite squad is Udoka Azubuike (Kansas), Devon Dotson (Kansas), Malachi Flynn (San Diego State), Obi Toppin (Dayton), Myles Powell (Seton Hall), Markus Howard (Marquette), Filip Petrusev (Gonzaga), Payton Pritchard (Oregon), and Cassius Winston (Michigan State).

The presentation of the John Wooden Award to the men’s most outstanding college basketball player will take place on April 7, during the 4 p.m. (CT) edition of SportsCenter on ESPN.

Iowa State Athletic Director Jamie Pollard wrote an open letter to Iowa State Athletics supporters on Wednesday announcing some financial changes made within the department in response to COVID19. Coaches and staff will be taking a pay cut and bonuses and incentives for coaches will be eliminated for one year to save the department around 4 million dollars. Some other price freezes will take place on tickets and donation requirements in an effort to help fans that are being economically impacted as well. Pollard said they wanted to be proactive in dealing with a revenue shortfall that will occur with less money from the NCAA due to cancellation of postseason basketball tournaments. A portion of the letter is below.

“We hosted several virtual meetings with our coaches and staff this week and shared a collective game plan that is strategic, proactive and transparent. The goal was to develop a strategy that established a foundation to be successful over the long-term, while recognizing that many of you (ticket holders, donors, sponsors, etc.) are being negatively impacted by the economic fall-out of COVID-19.

We are implementing these initiatives:

1. A one-year, temporary pay reduction for athletics department coaches and certain staff. This comprehensive plan will reduce total payroll by more than $3M.

2. A one-year, temporary suspension of all bonuses/incentives for all coaches. This decision will save the department $1M.

3. Delaying (from January 2021 to January 2022) a previously announced increase in Cyclone Club annual giving levels. The delay will save donors approximately $2.5M for required seating donations.

4. A freeze on season / individual game ticket prices for all sports.

5. An extension to the deadline for this year’s Cyclone Club donations and football season ticket renewals to May 29, 2020.

6. Providing multiple payment options for season tickets and donations. Those required payments can be made monthly, quarterly or semi-annually.

These actions will help us address the $5M shortfall that we face with the cancellation of the NCAA and Big 12 Men’s Basketball Tournaments. We can now turn our attention to solving many other issues in the coming months.  It was also important to us to provide our loyal ticket holders and donors some relief in regards to ticket prices and donations.

Although we could have passed on implementing these difficult decisions today and simply hoped for things to improve, we felt it was wise to act now.”

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Major League Baseball has canceled a two-game series in London between the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals because of the coronavirus pandemic. The teams had been scheduled to play at Olympic Stadium on June 13-14.

The Bears have finalized a one-year contract with offensive lineman Germain Ifedi. The 6-foot-5, 325-pound Ifedi made 60 starts at guard and tackle over four seasons for Seattle after being drafted out of Texas A&M with the No. 31 overall pick in 2016. He figures to replace Kyle Long at right guard after the Bears released the three-time Pro Bowl pick.

NFL teams are having to adjust to a new normal as they prepare for the NFL draft in three weeks without being able to visit prospects for in-person evaluations and interviews. The league is responding to the global coronavirus pandemic by forbidding teams from hosting prospects or traveling to interview them as they normally do. The pandemic also scuttled many college pro timing days that prospects were hoping to use to make impressions on NFL scouts, so teams will have to rely on game film more than ever. The NFL still plans to open the season as scheduled on Sept. 10.

Udoka Azubuike (oo-DOH’-kah ah-zoo-BOO’-kay) of Kansas, Luka Garza of Iowa, Markus Howard of Marquette, Myles Powell of Seton Hall and Obi Toppin (OH’-bee TAH’-pihn) of Dayton are the five finalists for the John R. Wooden Award as the nation’s top college basketball player. The 44th annual award will be presented on April 7.

The recruiting dead period has been extended in all NCAA Division I and II sports through May 31. Recruiting was shut down on March 13, not long after the cancellation of all winter and spring sports because of the outbreak. The original suspension was through April 15.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The five finalists for the John R. Wooden Award as the nation’s top college basketball player are Udoka Azubuike of Kansas, Luka Garza of Iowa, Markus Howard of Marquette, Myles Powell of Seton Hall and Obi Toppin of Dayton. The 44th annual award will be presented April 7 during ESPN’s “SportsCenter” broadcast at 5 p.m. EDT.

FILE – In this Feb. 20, 2020, file photo, Iowa center Luka Garza celebrates after making a basket during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Ohio State in Iowa City, Iowa. Garza was selected the Associated Press Big Ten Player of the Year Tuesday, March 10, 2020. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

The scheduled presentation on April 10 at the College Basketball Awards in Los Angeles was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. Voting took place from March 16 to March 23 but couldn’t include performances during the NCAA Tournament, which was canceled.