Irving-raised David Garza to perform at Kessler Theater in homecoming show
Singer Sarah Brightman talks her Christmas tour, shares advice for aspiring artists
As the Dallas Cowboys sprint full-speed ahead into the thicket of the summer offseason program, they have several orders of business to address. Three of their most prominent players are up for big contracts, and the ensuing negotiations are sure to be highly publicized and capture national headlines. Quarterback Dak Prescott is entering his ninth season as the team’s starting quarterback and looking for his second major contract with Dallas. Meanwhile, CeeDee Lamb is playing on his fifth-year option and has earned what he has coming to him after setting franchise records in yards and receptions in 2023. Micah Parsons is away from the team during this round of OTAs, but the premier defender is sure to command top dollar. While those contracts are significant and are at the forefront for Jerry Jones, a few other contracts are expiring this season that bear monitoring, and one that the Cowboys should address now before it’s too late. Here are three contracts to consider aside from Lamb, Prescott, and Parsons.
Turpin could earn himself a substantial pay raise after the 2024 season. You expect the Cowboys will work out a new contract with CeeDee Lamb sooner than later, and he’ll remain atop the team’s depth chart at wide receiver for years to come. Yet, when you look at the depth behind him, there is a path for Turpin to occupy a more prominent role in the offense and, thus, a larger payday. Brandin Cooks will be an unrestricted free agent after this year, and Jalen Tolbert is coming into his third season but still hasn’t secured anything yet. Turpin is surprisingly good at making contested catches for someone of his stature, in addition to his explosive speed in the open field.
If Turpin can work himself into the team’s third receiver at some point this season, it’ll bode well for his contract talks. Furthermore, Turpin can also work in some capacity out of the backfield in specific packages and elevate him into more of an offensive weapon than merely a receiver and return specialist. Since Turpin was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2022, his path to a more substantial contract is more layered than most. Turpin will be a restricted free agent after this season.
This is a situation where the Cowboys can get a head start and avoid being hit by the money train if they wait much longer to sign Odighizuwa. The fourth-year defender hasn’t made a Pro Bowl just yet but has already demonstrated his quickness as an under-tackle to penetrate the defensive backfield. He has been touted as the next breakout star of the Cowboys’ defense. He’s only 25 years old and has exceptional traits. The Cowboys can avoid having to learn the hard way.
Take the Baltimore Ravens for example. Justin Madubuike always had the talent to be a disruptive interior rush but had yet to put it all together. That is, until he did last year in the final year of his contract, erupting for 13 sacks. Baltimore had to break the bank and pay Madubuike his due, a whopping $98M over four seasons. However, Dallas can avoid letting Odighizuwa price himself out of their market by opening negotiations now rather than waiting. You’d have to go back in Cowboys history, but Dallas had done this before with a defensive tackle when they signed Jay Ratliff early before his costs became too high. Ratliff was pretty good under his first extension with the Cowboys, and Dallas should take this opportunity to spin some straw into a potential goldmine.
DeMarcus Lawrence is entering his eleventh season in the NFL, all with the Dallas Cowboys. For years, Lawrence has been underappreciated for his contributions as a disruptive player, rushing the passer and stopping the run. Since teaming with Parsons, Lawrence has provided more flexibility, sometimes playing the 3-tech defensive tackle on passing downs. He and the team agreed to a reworked three-year, $40M contract in 2022.
In the final year of his deal, it’s possible it’s the end of an era for Lawrence and the team. 2014 was Lawrence’s rookie season, which coincided with Tony Romo’s final playoff, and the Prescott era was ushered in shortly after that with Lawrence as one of the team’s leaders. With a looming contract for Parsons, the awaited emergence of Sam Williams in his third season, and the Cowboys drafting Marshawn Kneeland in the second round of this year’s draft, 2024 could be his last ride with the Cowboys unless a new team-friendly contract is reached.
Don Stone, a Dallas civic leader and strong supporter of the arts, died on Sunday. He was 96.
Angela Stone, Don’s youngest child, said her father was one of a kind, a rare mix of sweet and tough.
“He was just the most wonderful man I ever knew, just generous to a fault, smart, charming. He influenced so many people,” she said.
Stone gave widely across North Texas, including $500,000 to endow college scholarships for musically gifted Dallas ISD students. Stone also held leadership positions at several North Texas arts organizations, including the Dallas Public Library, Voices of Change, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, Fine Arts Chamber Players, Orchestra of New Spain, the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra, Shakespeare Dallas and Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.
“He just believed that all of our lives would be so much poorer without music, art and theater. He said in our country we have the freedom to support whatever we want and that we needed to support the arts so that they would continue to exist,” Stone said.
Stone, a businessman who lived in Turtle Creek, worked for Sanger Harris, which later became Macy’s. He was a 2018 TACA Silver Cup Award honoree for his arts and culture advocacy in North Texas.
Maura Sheffler, president and executive director of The Arts Community Alliance (TACA), said in a statement that Stone’s legacy will continue to inspire the local arts community.
“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Don Stone, a devoted champion of the arts whose leadership and generosity,” she wrote.
Stone’s wife of over 72 years, Norma, died in June. She was the one who first got her husband involved in the arts, according to their daughter Angela.
Michelle Miller Burns, the DSO’s president and CEO, said the Stones had a profound impact on the DSO.
“It is with such a heavy heart that I received news of Don Stone’s passing earlier this week. Don was a devoted patron, a donor and a board member of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and his leadership and generosity really have helped shape the Dallas symphony across five decades,” she said.
In 1980, Stone served as DSO’s chairman of the Board of Governors and helped launch efforts to raise $80 million for Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center and secure architect I.M. Pei.
In 1997, the Stones launched the Norma and Don Stone New Music Fund and committed $1 million to continuously support new works. Some of the works supported through the fund include this year’s world premiere of Angélica Negrón’s requiem For Everything You Keep Losing. The fund also supported a Grammy award-winning violin concerto by Aaron Jay Kernis co-commissioned with the Seattle Symphony, Toronto Symphony and Melbourne Symphony.
“I think it is rare for a couple who so firmly believes in the future of classical music and creating opportunities for new musical voices to be heard to really put support behind that in a meaningful way to fuel that process, to ensure that it can come to fruition,” Burns said.
She said the DSO will continue the Stones’ legacy by commissioning new works through the Norma and Don Stone New Music Fund.
Stone is survived by his children Michael, Lisa and Angela, six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. The family will have a private funeral.
Arts Access is an arts journalism collaboration powered by The Dallas Morning News and KERA.
This community-funded journalism initiative is funded by the Better Together Fund, Carol & Don Glendenning, City of Dallas OAC, Communities Foundation of Texas, The University of Texas at Dallas, The Dallas Foundation, Eugene McDermott Foundation, James & Gayle Halperin Foundation, Jennifer & Peter Altabef and The Meadows Foundation. The News and KERA retain full editorial control of Arts Access’ journalism.
Where is Cade Cunningham in the MVP conversation?
Following the Pistons’ big win over the Boston Celtics, Omari and Bryce break down the improvements they’ve seen from the franchise star player.
DALLAS — A late comeback attempt fell short for the Detroit Pistons.
They fell to the Dallas Mavericks in overtime, 116-114, after recovering from a third-period 18-point deficit. A dunk by Anthony Davis gave the Mavericks the lead for good with 1:32 to play in overtime.
Cade Cunningham (29 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists) missed a short jumper with 7 seconds left that would’ve tied the game at 116, and Jalen Duren (17 points, 13 rebounds) couldn’t convert two offensive rebounds into a tip-in basket. Davis corralled the rebound with 0.9 seconds left, and the Mavericks called timeout.
The Pistons fouled Davis after the inbounds pass with a foul to give. Daniss Jenkins, who scored 11 points after halftime, stole the second inbounds pass with 0.6 seconds left but didn’t have enough time to get a shot off.
The Pistons trailed by 18 points with five minutes to play in the third quarter. Their bench unit was instrumental during a 31-11 run that gave the Pistons the lead again, 99-97, midway through the fourth quarter. They held Dallas to 38.5% shooting and forced nine turnovers in the second half.
No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg gave his Mavericks the lead, 110-109, with under 20 seconds to play with a midrange jumper. Isaiah Stewart was fouled by Davis on the other end with 3.4 seconds left, and he split the trip to the line to tie the game at 110. Klay Thompson missed a floater at the buzzer, sending the game into overtime.
Down 86-68 with 4:57 to play in the third quarter, coach J.B. Bickerstaff looked to the end of his bench for a spark. Jenkins, Marcus Sasser and Paul Reed checked into the game for the first time in consecutive order, joining Ron Holland and Javonte Green. The Pistons have a Dallas-centric roster — Holland, Sasser and Jenkins are all from the city, and Cunningham is from nearby Arlington.
They led an 11-3 run to cut the deficit to 10, tallying four steals during the stretch — two for Green and one each for Jenkins and Reed. Cunningham checked in for Green to open the fourth quarter, and the run continued. A 3-pointer from Jenkins, coast-to-coast layup by Holland and midrange jumper from Jenkins extended the run to 21-7, cutting the deficit to 93-89 with under 10 minutes to play.
As he has done several times this season, Jenkins rose to the moment in the final period. An entry pass from Jenkins to Holland created an open layup to slash Dallas’ lead to two, and Jenkins made a layup over three Mavericks defenders to tie the game at 95 with 7:46 remaining and push the Pistons’ run to 27-9.
With 59 seconds left in the fourth, a pair of free throws from Jenkins extended the Pistons’ lead to 3, 109-106. He played 11 minutes and 32 seconds in the final period, second only to Cunningham, and overtime.
The Pistons lost Thompson — their primary defender on Flagg — midway through the second period after an exchange with an official.
With 5:09 remaining before halftime, Thompson tied up Mavericks guard Ryan Nembhard under the rim and was whistled for a foul. Thompson didn’t like the call and got in the ref’s face, and was instantly ejected. NBA rules make it an auto-ejection when a player makes physical contact with an official.
It was a strong start for Thompson prior to the ejection, as he had eight points, two assists, two rebounds and a steal in nine minutes of play. Stewart entered for him in the second quarter.
In all, it was a rough night for the Pistons regarding the officials. Cunningham was whistled for a tech late in the second quarter after disagreeing with a call, and Bickerstaff was whistled for a tech during halftime after arguing with an official.
With 11:08 to play in the third quarter, Robinson suffered a knee-to-knee collision with Mavericks wing Naji Marshall. Robinson limped off of the floor and was initially ruled “questionable” to return until he was downgraded to “out” in the final period.
Robinson finished with two points and two rebounds, shooting 1-for-7 overall and 0-for-5 from 3. He missed two games in early December with a right ankle sprain.
[ MUST WATCH: Make “The Pistons Pulse” your go-to Pistons podcast, listen available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) ]
Follow the Pistons all year long with the best reporting at freep.com/sports/pistons.
Follow the Detroit Free Press on Instagram (@detroitfreepress), TikTok (@detroitfreepress), YouTube (@DetroitFreePress), X (@freep), and LinkedIn, and like us on Facebook. (@detroitfreepress).
PHILADELPHIA – It was evident in July and August that Dallas Goedert was going to be a big part of the Eagles’ offense in the red zone. It felt that way most summers, but this time, with first-year offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo in place, the Eagles are dialing up plays for the tight end.
“I think when I get a ball in my hand down there, I’m tough to tackle, I can find my way in, fight my way in,” said Goedert. “It’s just that our red-zone philosophy has changed a bit. We used to run a lot, a lot of quarterback sneaks, things like that down there. We’ve tried to find ways to get me the ball, which is really cool, and I’m gonna keep trying to make them work.”
So far, Goedert has nine touchdown catches. According to NFL Research, five of his touchdowns were thrown behind the line of scrimmage this season, the most by a non-running back in the Next Gen era.
“He’s such a physical guy,” said Patullo. “His determination to just get yards and have an impact on anything, whether it’s in the pass game, whether it’s gadgets, whatever it may be. He’s really dynamic with the ball in his hands. So anytime you can get the ball in his hands, obviously, that’s what we’re going to try to do.”
However, the touchdown math didn’t add up for Goedert. He thought eight was the magic number to break the record for most TD catches by a tight end in franchise history, owned by Pete Retzlaff, but Retzlaff had 10 in 1965, meaning Goedert needs one more to break that dusty, 60-year-old mark.
“I thought it was eight, but I was wrong, so I thought I already had it,” he said.
Reminded that he would have had it already had he not dropped a wide-open throw to him in the end zone on Sunday, which would have given him a career-high three in one game, he winced, then answered.
“Yeah, scars right there,” he said. “That one hurts.”
With three games left, and with his heavy involvement in the red zone, it is reasonable to expect that the record will at least be tied, perhaps even broken.
“It’s pretty cool,” he said. “Anytime you can break a record, obviously things are going well for you. Obviously, winning is the most important thing and I want to do whatever I can to help win. If they’re giving me the ball down there, I’m gonna try to score. It would be a cool thing to have.”
Goedert’s production in the low red zone is a reason the Eagles lead the NFL in red-zone success, converting close to 70 percent of their trips (25-for-36) inside the 20 into touchdowns. The tight end has nine of those 25 red-zone TDs.
“We’ve had different things for me in the red zone throughout my career here, a lot of them just haven’t got called,” said Goedert. “Once they started calling them, I tried to make sure they worked so they could keep designing and calling other ones. Any time you go in the huddle and hear that play, knowing you have the opportunity to get in the end zone, it gets you kind of excited, for sure.”
Nore NFL: Eagles’ Backup Staying Patient, Takes First-Team Practice Reps
Addy Brown motivated to step up in Audi Crooks’ absence vs. UNI
How much snow did Iowa get? See Iowa’s latest snowfall totals
Elementary-aged student killed in school bus crash in southern Maine
Frigid temperatures to start the week in Maryland
The Game Awards are losing their luster
Nature: Snow in South Dakota
Family clarifies why they believe missing New Mexico man is dead
Nebraska lands commitment from DL Jayden Travers adding to early Top 5 recruiting class