The Los Angeles Chargers were one of the surprises of the AFC in 2024. The team had its first 11-win season in six years and made the wild-card round of the playoffs in its first year under coach Jim Harbaugh.

As they head into year two under the new regime, the franchise is handsomely rewarding one of its top young players.

The Chargers announced they have agreed to a four-year, $114 million extension that includes $92 million guaranteed with left tackle Rashawn Slater. This makes Slater the highest-paid offensive lineman in NFL history.

Slater was entering the final year of his rookie contract and this keeps him with the team through the 2029 NFL season.

Los Angeles drafted Slater in the first round, No. 13 overall in the 2021 NFL Draft. He was the second offensive lineman selected in the draft after the Detroit Lions selected Penei Sewell at No. 7 overall.

Slater was one of the best tackles in the NFL as a rookie. He started 16 games, made the Pro Bowl and earned second-team All-Pro honors.

A biceps injury ended his 2022 season in Week 3. He returned for a full year of action in 2023 and, in 2024, was one of the top tackles in the NFL, making the Pro Bowl once again.

Tight end Jake Ferguson and the Cowboys agreed to a four-year, $52 million extension with $30 million guaranteed. This deal makes Ferguson the highest-paid tight end in Cowboys history.

Dallas drafted Ferguson in the fourth round, No. 129 overall in the 2022 NFL Draft. He started eight games as a rookie and took on a larger role in his second season.

In 2023, Ferguson set career-highs in catches (71), receiving yards (761) and receiving touchdowns (five) and made his first Pro Bowl.

He was held scoreless in 2024 as the Cowboys offense struggled without franchise quarterback Dak Prescott in the lineup for much of the season.

Ferguson may be the highest-paid tight end in Cowboys history, but this deal makes him the seventh-highest-paid tight end in the league by average annual value (AAV). Per OverTheCap, Ferguson slots in behind Cleveland’s David Njoku ($13.68 million AAV) and ahead of Chicago’s Cole Kmet ($12.5 million).

Ferguson was entering the final year of his rookie deal prior to this extension. The Cowboys state this extension will free up $1.8 million in salary cap space for 2025.

Jake Ferguson stats

Ferguson assumed a larger role in the Cowboys’ offense in 2023 following Dalton Schultz’s departure. Here’s a look at his stats year-over-year:

• 2022 (16 games): 19 receptions, 174 yards, two touchdowns
• 2023 (17 games): 71 receptions, 761 yards, five touchdowns
• 2022 (14 games): 59 receptions, 494 yards

Micah Parsons contract latest

Cowboys fans are hoping the team’s top young star gets an extension done soon as well in edge rusher Micah Parsons. They voiced their displeasure during Dallas’ ‘Opening Day Ceremony’ at training camp, shouting ‘Pay Micah!’ to owner Jerry Jones as he took the stage to address the crowd.

Like Ferguson before his extension, Parsons is entering the final year of his rookie deal. He’s been one of the best defenders in the league since his rookie season in 2021 and has been at least a second-team All-Pro in three of his first four seasons.

Parsons has reported to training camp but previously spoke about his frustration with the negotiations.

He stated his representation tried to get an extension done last offseason but the franchise said they were focusing on deals for Prescott and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb instead.

Dallas hasn’t come together on a deal since the end of the 2024 season. This comes while other top edge rushers like Maxx Crosby, Myles Garrett and T.J. Watt all signed long-term deals.

‘I will never understand it,’ Parsons said on former WWE wrestler The Undertaker’s podcast, Six Feet Under. ‘We wanted to do the contract last year – then you go out there and perform again. You would think, ‘Alright, we’ll get it done early, we know some guys are about to get re-paid.’ There’s Myles [Garrett], Maxx [Crosby] is going, so you would think, ‘Hey, let’s get ahead of that.’

‘You can’t want us to take less (now) because you’re the one that decided to wait.’

North Carolina Central head coach Trei Oliver accused a Virginia Tech coach of tampering last season, and the Hokies are now looking into the matter.

Oliver raised the accusation at a media event on July 25 when he was asked about his top ‘you got to be kidding me’ story. The fifth-year coach said prior to the contest against Howard − the final home game of the season − he noticed a Virginia Tech staff member on his team’s sideline.

‘Virginia Tech was actually on my sideline recruiting our running back,’ Oliver told said, according to WRAL News.

The running back wasn’t named, but Oliver said it was a player that ended up transferring to Virginia. J’Mari Taylor was the team’s leading rusher in 2024 and is now with the Cavaliers.

Oliver recalled assistant coaches were trying to calm him down about the situation but he was agitated by seeing the Virginia Tech staff member. In that game, Taylor ran for a season-high 206 yards and three touchdowns in a victory.

After Oliver’s comments, Virginia Tech released a statement that it reviewing the accusations.

‘This is the first time the issue has been brought to our attention, and no concern has previously been shared with us through any formal channel,’ the statement read. ‘Virginia Tech takes all NCAA rules seriously and is committed to conducting our program with integrity. We are reviewing the matter internally and will address any findings appropriately.’

After the alleged incident, Oliver was glad to see his player not end up with the Hokies, and hopes Virginia ‘kick Virginia Tech’s butt.’ Taylor is expected to have a major role in Virginia’s offense.

The annual ‘Commonwealth Clash’ between the Cavaliers and Hokies will take place in the 2025 season finale on Nov. 29 in Charlottesville.

AI-assisted summary
• Colorado football coach Deion Sanders will hold a press conference with his medical team on Monday, July 28.
• The press conference will address ‘team and general updates.’
• Sanders has been less involved in team activities this offseason due to an undisclosed health issue.

Much has been made about Deion Sanders’ future in Boulder due to a mysterious health issue that has limited his offseason participation with Colorado football and his sons − Shedeur and Shilo − in the NFL playing for the Cleveland Browns and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, respectively.

On Monday, July 28, the college football world at large may be getting some answers on what may be on the horizon for the Colorado coach.

Sanders will be holding a press conference alongside his medical team to provide ‘team and general updates. It will be his first news conference of the 2025 fall camp for the Buffaloes.

While no one but Sanders is entitled to know his health status, rumors have swirled due to his limited involvement in Colorado’s spring and summer camps. Sanders appeared in good spirits at Big 12 media days, praising Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark for continually checking in on him, Colorado AD Rick George for taking a chance on him, and the other coaches in the Big 12.

Sanders ultimately declined to expound upon his health at media days, saying he was ‘here to talk about (his) team.’

When is Deion Sanders speaking to media?

• Date: Monday, July 28
• Time: 1 p.m. ET, 11 a.m. MT

Sanders and his medical team will be speaking to media Monday, July 28 at 1 p.m. ET, 11 a.m. MT (Boulder local time). It is unknown what the specific updates will be.

The first-ever Athletes Unlimited Softball League championship goes to the top-seeded Talons.

After winning a rain-delayed Game 1 in the AUSL championship series, the Talons completed the two-game sweep of the Bandits on Sunday, July 27 with another delayed victory at Rhoads Softball Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Sydney Romero’s solo home run with one out in the top of the sixth inning broke a scoreless tie and provided the winning margin in a 1-0 championship-clinching victory. It was the former Oklahoma star’s first homer of the postseason and just her second of the season.

The first game in the best-of-three series was postponed a day earlier in the bottom of the sixth inning on Saturday as the Talons led the Bandits 3-1. `

With the skies clear on Sunday morning, the Talons closed out the victory to put themselves on the brink of a title.

Romero, Fouts star in Game 2

Game 2 was a classic pitcher’s duel between the Talons’ Montana Fouts and the Bandits’ Taylor McQuillin. They matched zeroes through the first four frames before the rain forced another delay in the top of the fifth inning.

Once the skies cleared, Fouts – playing on the same field where she starred collegiately at Alabama – returned to the mound for the Talons. Meanwhile, the Bandits turned to their ace Lexi Kilfoyl, who took the loss in Game 1.

With the game still scoreless in the sixth, Romero caught up with a fastball at the top of the strike zone and deposited it over the wall in left field to break the scoreless tie.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Bandits’ Bubba Nickles-Camarena nearly tied the game with a long drive that hit just a few inches away from clearing the wall in left-center field. But she was erased one batter later on a line drive that was snagged by Talons first baseman Tori Vidalis, who dove back to the bag and beat Nickles-Camarena for the double play.

Fouts then struck out Bella Dayton to complete the shutout and the championship-clinching 1-0 victory.