QB carousel spins with Russell Wilson to Steelers | Benches clear in SEC tourney title game

Happy Monday, everyone!

Springing ahead is never easy, but sports are here to help.

• We just finished a thrilling week of conference basketball tournaments, with much more to come this week ahead of Selection Sunday. Here's our latest men's Bracketology and women's Bracketology.
• NFL free agency begins.
• NBA and NHL playoff races are heating up.
• The UEFA Champions League narrows to eight teams this week.
• MLB Opening Day is 17 days away, and the opening round of The Masters is exactly one month away.

It's a great time to be a sports fan. Then again, when isn't it?!

Let's get right to it.

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 extensionthat 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:

• Chris Jones got a five-year, $160-million deal -- with $95 million guaranteed -- from the Chiefs, making him the highest-paid defensive tackle in NFL history.
• Tyler Lockett reworked his deal with the Seahawks.
• The Patriots retained Kendrick Bourne.
• Brandon Graham will have a farewell season with Philadelphia.

We also had notable moves ahead over the weekend ...

• The Patriots are trading Mac Jones to the Jaguars, ending a disappointing three-year stint in New England. Bailey Zappe liked the move.
• The Broncos are tradingJerry Jeudy to the Browns, a move Cleveland won by a wide margin, Jared Dubin says.
• The Bears signed Kevin Byard.
• The 49ers will releaseArik Armstead.

Then we have the group everyone is watching: the free agents looking for homes. It's a group Kirk Cousinsjoined 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 bothPete Prisco's top 100and 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 ourfree 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:

• Top 10 free agents by position: Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | Interior offensive lineman | Offensive tackle | Interior defensive lineman | Edge | Linebacker | Cornerback | Safety
• Potential cap casualties and landing spots
• Who can "win" the offseason?

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

• We're calling this one "The Brow." Anthony Davisput up an unprecedented stat line.
• Luka Doncic's latest streak is ridiculous.
• Jackson Holliday had a huge grand slam.
• Lonzo Ball ramped up his rehab.
• Scottie Scheffler won the Arnold Palmer Invitational by five strokes. If this new putter is the one, watch out.
• Christian Pulisic scored a game-winning goal.
• Christopher Bell won the Shriners Children's 500.

• Alperen Sengun left in a wheelchair after a hard fall.
• Rudy Gobert was fined $100,000 for making a cash gesture towards an official.
• Bennedict Mathurin (torn labrum) will miss the rest of the season.
• Pistons GM Troy Weaver got into a verbal altercation with a fan.
• Oswald Peraza (strained shoulder) is out six-to-eight weeks.
• Emmet Sheehan (shoulder soreness) will begin the season on the IL.
• Noelvi Marte was suspended 80 games for PED use. Here are three big questions for the Reds and their young standout.
• Jonny DeLuca broke his hand .
  

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 defeatedLSU, 79-72, to win the SEC Tournament and improve to 32-0, but the victory was marred by a benches-clearing brawlin the fourth quarter.

• South Carolina's MiLaysia Fulwiley stole the ball from LSU's Flau'jae Johnson, who then intentionally fouled Fulwiley.
• Johnson then shovedAshlyn Watkins before 6'7" Gamecocks centerKamilla 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 asIowarallied 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, andMcKenzie Forbesled USC over Stanford, 74-61, for the Pac-12 Tournament crown. Here's our conference tournament tracker.

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 impressive84-79 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 Reevesscored 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:

• Purdue put Zach Edey's jersey in the rafters.
• Kentucky also got a recruiting victory in 2024 forward Karter Knox.
• Coaching tracker

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 offEmily 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.

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