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David Newton
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Veteran quarterback Andy Dalton has been instrumental in the development of Bryce Young, and Tuesday the Carolina Panthers made sure that relationship will continue.
Carolina re-signed Dalton, 37, to a two-year contract, the team announced. Terms were not disclosed, but a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter the contract is worth $8 million, includes $6 million guaranteed and has a max value of $10 million.
Dalton was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent next month. He made it clear after the season that his preference was to return to Carolina, and Young, the top pick of the 2023 draft, made it clear that he wanted Dalton back.
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“Me and Andy are super close,” Young, the Panthers’ starting quarterback, said late this past season. “From when I first got here, just being able to talk with him through things, him having perspective on a situation that I had never been a part of. I was always leaning on him, always having conversations.
“You can’t add up the hours we spent here. … And just being able to have someone that you can bounce stuff off of, ask how you see things, whether it’s X’s and O’s or it’s a philosophical thing or stuff outside of football somewhere nuanced in between. He is always there just trying to help me out.”
Dalton signed a two-year, $11 million deal with the Panthers in 2023 to help develop Young.
The veteran became the starter in Week 3 this past season after Young was benched due to bad numbers during an 0-2 start following a 2-14 rookie season.
Dalton threw for 319 yards and three touchdowns in his first start, a 36-22 victory against the
Baltimore Ravens guard Ben Cleveland was cited for driving under the influence last Wednesday in Georgia, according to records obtained by ESPN.
According to the incident report, Cleveland, who was driving a Ford F-250, was stopped by police at 10:25 p.m. in Milledgeville, Georgia, after failing to maintain his lane.
Cleveland told an officer that he drank approximately three to four beers at a country club but had not had any alcohol within the last two hours and consented to field sobriety tests. He then consented to a breathalyzer test, which showed he had a BAC (blood alcohol concentration) of .178, over twice the legal limit of .08. He was then placed under arrest, and after being transported to the jail, he produced a breath result of .161.
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Cleveland, 26, received citations for DUI and failure to drive within a single lane, according to the booking report, and was released from custody early Thursday morning after posting a $1,000 bond.
Cleveland has played the past four seasons for the Ravens, who selected him in the third round out of the University of Georgia in the 2021 draft.
He is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent next month.
Philadelphia was awash in green on Valentine’s Day to celebrate its Super Bowl champion Eagles.
Swooning fans screamed and cheered Friday as Super Bowl MVP quarterback Jalen Hurts and Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie took turns hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy at the start of the team’s victory parade through the City of Brotherly Love.
Many fans camped out along the parade route overnight, huddling under blankets and in tents to secure prime spots near the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where the Eagles took the stage on the “Rocky” steps.
“You know, I told myself that when I got drafted that I wouldn’t come to the ‘Rocky’ steps until I won a championship,” Hurts said. “And now we’re here.”
A few rowdy fans lobbed beer cans to players riding on the open-air buses, and a wayward throw smacked Eagles general manager Howie Roseman in the forehead.
“I bleed for this city!” Roseman said later during the celebration.
Other fans decked out in Eagles jerseys climbed trees and light poles, perched atop ladders and clung to a statue of Benjamin Franklin near City Hall to get a glimpse of record-setting running back Editor’s Picks
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Brooke Pryor
PITTSBURGH — The Steelers released outside linebacker Preston Smith on Friday, a move that saves them more than $13 million in 2025 cap space.
The Steelers acquired Smith, 33, for edge rushing depth at the trade deadline in November. They sent a 2025 seventh-round pick to the Green Bay Packers in return.
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Smith, though, was inactive in two of the Steelers’ final three games, including their playoff loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
Smith recorded 2 sacks, 1 fumble recovery and 13 combined tackles in eight games overall for Pittsburgh.
A 2015 second-round pick by Washington, Smith hits the open market prior to free agency as a 10-year veteran with 70.5 career sacks in stints with Washington, Green Bay and Pittsburgh.
