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🏈 Good morning to everyone but especially …

NFL FREE AGENCY

Russell Wilson is getting a new fresh start. Both he and the Steelers hope it goes better than the last one. The former Seahawks star — and more recently embattled Broncos signal caller — announced late Sunday he is heading to Pittsburgh just days after Denver said it would release him. The Broncos allowed him to talk to other teams, and things apparently went well enough in the Steel City. It’s a one-year deal around the league minimum of $1.2 million; the Steelers can pay him that little because the Broncos are paying him so much.

I went over this last week, when Denver announced it would release Wilson despite $85 million in dead cap: In his first year in Denver, he was awful, the coaching was awful, and that was that. Then the Broncos hired Sean Payton, whose fit with Wilson was a curious one, and though Wilson was better, he wasn’t great. Then came an ugly benching, and now comes what will be Wilson’s third team in four years.

It’s an intriguing landing spot. Kenny Pickett, a first-round pick two years ago, hasn’t exactly impressed, but his offensive coordinator didn’t either, which is why he was fired. So in comes Wilson on an extremely cheap deal, playing alongside several promising playmakers, a win-now defense and a very good coach. It’s a low-downside, high-upside move in theory.

The deal technically won’t be official until Wednesday afternoon, when the new league year begins. But it provides a thrilling precursor to what will be a busy few days. NFL free agency starts today at noon — kind of — with the legal tampering period, meaning any player on an expiring contract can speak with teams through their representation, and deals can be agreed upon. I’ve always thought the phrase “legal tampering” — two antonyms — is ridiculous, but that’s a discussion for another day because this is a busy newsletter.

Elsewhere at quarterback, the Buccaneers kept Baker Mayfield on a three-year, $100-million extension that includes
$50 million guaranteed. It’s an incredible career resurgence for Mayfield, who signed a one-year, $8.5-million deal last year and was viewed as a bridge quarterback. Here’s who else stayed put over the weekend:

We also had notable moves ahead over the weekend …

Then we have the group everyone is watching: the free agents looking for homes. It’s a group Kirk Cousins joined after he informed the Vikings he will test the market while remaining in touch. Even at 35 and coming off an Achilles tear, Cousins is the No. 1 free agent in both Pete Prisco’s top 100 and Cody Benjamin’s top 50.

Jared played free agent matchmaker for every AFC team and every NFC team, and he says Cousins fits perfectly with …

• Dubin: “Falcons — There’s been a lot of talk about how the Falcons are close to contending because they are only a quarterback away from being good. If you’re a quarterback away, you’re not actually that close; because it’s the only thing you can’t win without, as we saw in Atlanta last year. But if the Falcons land Cousins, things become much more interesting.”

Here’s our free agency live blog, and here’s our top 100 free agent signings, so keep those open all day … every day … for the next few weeks. Here’s more to get you ready:

And if you’re looking for anything else, here’s our full primer.

🔥 Honorable mentions

😬 Not so honorable mentions

🏀 High drama in women’s college basketball conference tournament championships

South Carolina will enter the NCAA Tournament undefeated, but certainly not without drama — drama that cost the Gamecocks one of their stars. The nation’s top team defeated LSU, 79-72, to win the SEC Tournament and improve to 32-0, but the victory was marred by a benches-clearing brawl in the fourth quarter.

• South Carolina’s MiLaysia Fulwiley stole the ball from LSU’s Flau’jae Johnson, who then intentionally fouled Fulwiley.
• Johnson then shoved Ashlyn Watkins before 6’7″ Gamecocks center Kamilla Cardoso shoved Johnson to the ground.
• Benches cleared, and Johnson’s brother even left the stands and came onto the court, making contact with Cardoso before leaving in handcuffs, per the broadcast.
• Six players were ejected: five who left the benches and Cardoso, whose fighting disqualification means she’ll miss the first game of the NCAA Tournament.

The incident happened a day after Cardoso banked in a buzzer-beating 3-pointer against Tennessee, making it quite the weekend of ups and downs.

In Big Ten country, Caitlin Clark‘s Sunday started very down and ended very up as Iowa rallied past Nebraska, 94-89, in overtime, for the program’s third straight Big Ten Tournament title. Clark scored 30 of her 34 points after halftime and scored or assisted on the Hawkeyes’ final 28 points of regulation.

Elsewhere, Hannah Hidalgo led Notre Dame over NC State, 55-51, for the ACC Tournament crown, and McKenzie Forbes led USC over Stanford, 74-61, for the Pac-12 Tournament crown. Here’s our conference tournament tracker.

🏀 Men’s college basketball: North Carolina sweeps Duke, four bids clinched

No. 7 North Carolina will enter this week’s ACC Tournament riding high, and with good reason. The Tar Heels finished their regular-season sweep of No. 9 Duke with an impressive 84-79 win in Durham. Cormac Ryan scored a career-high 31 points and made six 3-pointers. Making matters worse for Duke, Kyle Filipowski appeared to trip Ingram, putting the star Blue Devil in the unfavorable section of our weekend winners and losers.

Also winning on the road was No. 15 Kentucky, which held off No. 4 Tennessee, 85-81, in Knoxville. Reed Sheppard and Antonio Reeves scored 27 each, helping the Wildcats survive a 40-point onslaught by Dalton Knecht. Kentucky earned an “A” in Kyle Boone’s weekly grades. He even called the week “splendiferous.” Yes, it’s a real word.

No. 14 Kansas earned a (perhaps generous) “C-“ after a 76-46 shellacking at the hands of No. 1 Houston, the Jayhawks’ fewest points in a conference game since 2000. This Kansas team just doesn’t have the firepower, and potential injuries to Hunter Dickinson and/or Kevin McCullar Jr. certainly won’t help.

We’ll see the teams above in their conference tournaments this week. As for completed conference tournaments, four champions earned a ticket to dance:

• ASUN: Stetson
• Big South: Longwood
• Missouri Valley: Drake
• Ohio Valley: Morehead State

Here’s our conference tournament tracker, and here’s more from the weekend:

🏆 USWNT wins inaugural Concacaf W Gold Cup

It may not have been pretty, but the USWNT is back to lifting trophies. The Star and Stripes topped Brazil, 1-0, to win the inaugural Concacaf W Gold Cup.

Lindsey Horan provided the game-winner with a wonderful header off Emily Fox‘s cross just before halftime, and a strong defensive effort followed. After World Cup disappointment — and ahead of Emma Hayes‘ arrival as coach and the 2024 Olympics — give credit to interim coach Twila Kilgore, Sandra Herrera writes.

📺 What we’re watching Monday

🏀 Iowa State vs. No. 19 Oklahoma (W), 2:30 p.m. on ESPN2
🏀 No. 16 Kansas State vs. No. 6 Texas (W), 5 p.m. on ESPN2
🏀 Big East Championship Game: vs. No. 9 UConn, 7 p.m. on FS1
🏀 Warriors at Spurs, 7:30 p.m. on NBA TV
🏀 Santa Clara vs. No. 23 Saint Mary’s (M), 9 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 Celtics at Trail Blazers, 10 p.m. on NBA TV
🏀 San Francisco vs. No. 19 Gonzaga (M), 11:30 p.m. on ESPN2