From Gary Klein: The Rams’ remodeled secondary will have a heavy Kansas City Chiefs influence.
A week after trading for cornerback Trent McDuffie, the Rams on Monday agreed to terms with cornerback Jaylen Watson, a person with knowledge of the situation said. The person requested anonymity because deals cannot become official until Wednesday.
Watson’s deal with the Rams is for three years and includes $34 million in guarantees, NFL Media reported.
Watson and McDuffie, who on Sunday agreed to terms on an extension that reportedly includes $100 million in guarantees, won two Super Bowls with the Chiefs.
Watson, 27, has three career interceptions, including two last season. Watson, 6 feet 2 and 197 pounds, played at Ventura College for two seasons before transferring to Washington State. The Chiefs selected him in the seventh round of the 2022 draft.
The Rams have made several moves involving the secondary. In January, safety Quentin Lake received a three-year extension that includes $25 million in guarantees. They traded the 29th pick in this year’s draft and other picks this year and next for McDuffie, and also agreed to terms with safety Kam Curl on a three-year extension that includes about $24 million in guarantees.
Chargers making moves
Former Baltimore Ravens tight end Charlie Kolar agreed to a deal with the Chargers on Monday.
(Terrance Williams / Associated Press)
The Chargers aren’t hesitating when it comes to bolstering their run-blocking options for new offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel, reportedly agreeing to terms Monday with former Baltimore Ravens tight end Charlie Kolar.
Kolar and the Chargers agreed to a three-year, $24.3-million deal that includes $17 million in guarantees, NFL Media reported.
Widely considered the best run-blocking tight end available ahead of free agency, Kolar should help an uneven Chargers running attack that forced coach Jim Harbaugh to often rely too much on quarterback Justin Herbert — even when his running backs were healthy.
Dodgers prospect Ryan Ward waiting for his chance
Ryan Ward hits for the Dodgers during a spring training game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Feb. 25.
(Ross D. Franklin / Associated Press)
From Jack Vita: There comes a point in every big leaguer’s career when they graduate from their farm system, a time in which they’ve proven everything they can at the minor league level, and it’s time to see what they are made of in the big leagues.
For some, it’s a fast track. For others, it may come after a few seasons in the minors.
And then there’s players such as 28-year-old Dodgers prospect Ryan Ward. Drafted in the eighth round in 2019, Ward has played 402 games at triple-A Oklahoma City over the past three seasons. Last year, his 36 home runs, 122 RBIs, and .290/.380/.557 slash line made him the MVP of the Pacific Coast League. But after Sunday’s Cactus League game against the Athletics, the Dodgers optioned Ward and left-hander Ronan Kopp to Oklahoma City.
The wait continues for Ward.
Changes at Casey Wasserman’s agency
Casey Wasserman, chairman of the Los Angeles Organizing Committee, speaks during an IOC meeting in Milan on Feb. 3.
(Luca Bruno / Associated Press)
From Meg James: Casey Wasserman’s name has been scrubbed from the agency he founded decades ago, replaced with an amorphous moniker: “The Team.”
Monday’s move comes amid the lingering controversy over the sports mogul’s decades-old association with Ghislaine Maxwell, accomplice of the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Following revelations of Wasserman’s salacious 2003 emails with Maxwell, several musicians and athletes — led by pop artist Chappell Roan and soccer star Abby Wambach — said that, to stay true to their values, they would leave the agency then known as Wasserman.
Fears of a broad flight of artists and agents prompted Wasserman to announce that he was selling his talent representation and sports marketing firm. Talks with prospective buyers have been ongoing, according to a person close to the agency but not authorized to speak publicly.
Clippers back at the .500 mark
Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard, right, controls the ball in front of New York Knicks guard Josh Hart during the second half of the Clippers’ win Monday at Intuit Dome.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
From the Associated Press: Kawhi Leonard scored 29 points, Bennedict Mathurin added 28 points, and the Clippers beat the New York Knicks 126-118 at Intuit Dome on Monday night to climb back to .500 for the first time since early November.
The Clippers are 32-32 and have won five of their first six games in March as they try to improve their potential position in the NBA play-in tournament. They began the season in a 6-21 tailspin.
It was Leonard’s 42nd straight game with 20-plus points, the second-longest active streak in the NBA and third-longest in team history.
Kings beat Blue Jackets in overtime
Kings forward Adrian Kempe celebrates after scoring in overtime against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday.
(Jay LaPrete / Associated Press)
From the Associated Press: Adrian Kempe scored his second goal of the game with 2:26 left in overtime to give the Kings a 5-4 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday.
With the victory, the Kings moved within a point of Seattle in the race for the final Western Conference wild-card spot.
Columbus tied the score late for the second straight home game. Kirill Marchenko scored on the power play at 18:04 to force the extra period.
Tom Brady is heading to L.A.
Tom Brady looks on before the NFC championship game between the Rams and the Seattle Seahawks on Jan. 25 at Lumen Field.
(Jane Gershovich / Getty Images)
From Chuck Schilken: Tom Brady‘s return to the football field will take place on U.S. soil.
Right here in Los Angeles, to be specific.
The Fanatics Flag Football Classic, featuring Brady and a slew of other NFL stars and athletes, will take place March 21 at BMO Stadium, the venue that is also slated to host flag football during the 2028 Summer Olympics.
The event was originally scheduled to take place on the same date, but at a location more than 8,000 miles away at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia.
U.S. defeats Mexico in World Baseball Classic
Aaron Judge, center, celebrates in the dugout after hitting a two-run home run for the U.S. against Mexico in the World Baseball Classic on Monday.
(Ashley Landis / Associated Press)
From the Associated Press: Aaron Judge hit a two-run homer and Roman Anthony added a three-run blast in a big third inning to lead the United States to a 5-3 win over Mexico in the World Baseball Classic at Houston’s Daikin Park on Monday night.
The U.S. improved to 3-0 and will meet Italy (2-0) on Tuesday night, seeking to secure a spot in the quarterfinals in Houston this weekend.
Jarren Duran homered twice for Mexico (2-1), which will face Italy Wednesday night in the last game of Group B play.
This day in sports history
1913 — The Quebec Bulldogs win the Stanley Cup in two games over Sydney.
1920 — Quebec’s Joe Malone scores six goals to lead the Bulldogs to a 10-4 rout of the Ottawa Senators.
1961 — Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors becomes the first NBA player to score 3,000 points in a season. Chamberlain scores 32 points in a 120-103 loss to Detroit to bring his season total to 3,016.
1963 — Wilt Chamberlain of the San Francisco Warriors scores 70 points in a 163-148 loss to Syracuse.
1985 — Dick Motta becomes the fourth NBA coach to record 700 victories as Dallas beats New Jersey 126-113.
1991 — Eddie Sutton of Oklahoma State becomes the first coach to lead four schools into the NCAA tournament. Sutton also coached Creighton, Arkansas and Kentucky in the tournament.
1992 — New York Islanders coach Al Arbour becomes the second coach in NHL history to win 700 games with a 5-2 victory over Philadelphia.
2001 — With Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark looking on, Hermann Maier wins the giant slalom for his 13th victory this season, equaling one of the mightiest alpine skiing records. Maier, winner of the overall World Cup title three of the last four years, ties the record Stenmark set in 1979.
2002 — John Stockton, the NBA’s career assist leader, has 13 assists in Utah’s 95-92 loss at Houston to give him exactly 15,000 for his career.
2004 — Orlando’s Tracy McGrady scores a franchise record 62 points in a 108-99 win over Washington.
2011 — Veteran referees Jim Burr, Tim Higgins and Earl Walton, cited for two errors in the final seconds of the St. John’s-Rutgers game, withdraw from the rest of the Big East tournament. The three officials missed two calls — a travel and stepping out of bounds — in the final 1.7 seconds of St. John’s 65-63 win in the second-round of Big East tournament. The Big East acknowledged after the game the officials blew the calls.
2014 — The game between Dallas and the Columbus Blue Jackets is postponed by the NHL after Stars forward Rich Peverley collapses on the bench during the first period.
2018 — Texas Southern beats Arkansas-Pine Bluff 84-69 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship game. Texas Southern (15-19) earns an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament after starting out 0-13 this season. The Tigers didn’t win a game until Jan. 1 and never beat a nonconference opponent.
2018 — The Vegas Golden Knights set a record for road wins by an expansion team with a 2-1 shootout victory at Buffalo. At 20-12-3, the Golden Knights break a tie with the 1993-94 Anaheim Ducks for most road wins by an NHL team in its first season.
2022 — After a 99-day lockout, Major League Baseball and MLB Players Assn. reach a new collective bargaining agreement; MLB teams set to play full 162 game season in 2022.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.