The Philadelphia Eagles have signed rookie wide receiver Makai Lemon to a fully guaranteed contract on Thursday.

The 20th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft has signed a rookie four-year deal with the Philadelphia Eagles. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport confirmed the deal Thursday: a four-year, fully guaranteed arrangement carrying an $11.5 million signing bonus.

#Eagles first-round WR Makai Lemon signed his rookie contract today. He gets a 4-year fully guaranteed deal that includes a $11.5 million dollar signing bonus. Deal was done by Ian Grutman and David Ben-Zaken of GSE Worldwide. pic.twitter.com/tQ8cF0Lo7X

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 30, 2026

The deal is worth roughly $5 million per year and totals just over $20.8 million over the course of the contract.

During the draft, the Eagles traded the No. 23, 114, and 137 to the Dallas Cowboys to move into the 20th slot to select Lemon, while also giving up a 2027 seventh rounder. During the draft, it was reported that Lemon had been receiving calls from the Pittsburgh Steelers, who had interest in taking him.

At the post-draft news conference, Eagles general manager Howie Roseman would say, ” He has the ability to separate in man coverage, out of the slot, he can play outside. Really good with the ball in his hands,” Roseman said. Head coach Nick Sirianni added simply, “Insane ability to catch the ball in contested situations. I love his toughness.”

The Eagles’ WR1, A.J. Brown, is expected to be dealt over the course of the next few months, so the Eagles were hot on the trail to sign another weapon behind DeVonta Smith.

This article originally appeared on Touchdown Wire: Eagles Makai Lemon gets a fully guaranteed contract worth $20 mill

April results

Ah, the joy of Opening Day, hope springing eternal and all that. Except, this poll came after the first series against Los Angeles was already in the books, and that acted as a stiff reality check. For the Diamondbacks were swept in the three-game series. There were positives: two of the games were lost by a single run, and had things gone just a little differently, Arizona could have come out of there with a series win. But hypothetical and moral wins are for suckers, so 0-3 it was. They then turned around and swept the Tigers in turn, another team with credible playoff aspirations. So did all that impact fan confidence from the mark at the beginning of spring training?

It may be a case of “What have you done for me lately?” to quote the great philosopher Janet Jackson. I suspect the results would not have been quite as good had they come after the Dodgers sweep, rather than after the Tigers one. The biggest change, in both literal and relative terms, came in the ‘8’ category, which tripled from five percent in March, to fifteen percent in April. ‘7’ also kicked up a bit, with the 5-6 range fueling most of the positive sentiment above them. All told, confidence improved by just over one-quarter of a point, increasing from 6.12 to 6.39 at the start of April.

Below, you can see the breakdown for the past 12 polls’ results, followed by the line graph showing the trends over this and previous seasons.

May poll

April is in the books. The D-backs made it through with a 16-14 record. I think we’d all have settled for that at the beginning of the month. But while impressive on the surface, there are obvious issues – notably a pitching staff, who end April with a collective ERA north of five (5.09 if my math is correct), and ranked 28th in the majors. That’s the highest figure through 30 games since the hell which was 2020. Of course, there are positives as well. The amazing performance of Ildemaro Vargas, the unexpected rookie production from Jose Fernandez and veteran Nolan Arenado, and Corbin Carroll continuing to be Corbin Carroll. But what is your overall take on the team as we enter May?

That’s what the poll below would be for. You can explain your decision in the comments, especially if your vote has changed from last time. Link for mobile.

April results

Ah, the joy of Opening Day, hope springing eternal and all that. Except, this poll came after the first series against Los Angeles was already in the books, and that acted as a stiff reality check. For the Diamondbacks were swept in the three-game series. There were positives: two of the games were lost by a single run, and had things gone just a little differently, Arizona could have come out of there with a series win. But hypothetical and moral wins are for suckers, so 0-3 it was. They then turned around and swept the Tigers in turn, another team with credible playoff aspirations. So did all that impact fan confidence from the mark at the beginning of spring training?

It may be a case of “What have you done for me lately?” to quote the great philosopher Janet Jackson. I suspect the results would not have been quite as good had they come after the Dodgers sweep, rather than after the Tigers one. The biggest change, in both literal and relative terms, came in the ‘8’ category, which tripled from five percent in March, to fifteen percent in April. ‘7’ also kicked up a bit, with the 5-6 range fueling most of the positive sentiment above them. All told, confidence improved by just over one-quarter of a point, increasing from 6.12 to 6.39 at the start of April.

Below, you can see the breakdown for the past 12 polls’ results, followed by the line graph showing the trends over this and previous seasons.

May poll

April is in the books. The D-backs made it through with a 16-14 record. I think we’d all have settled for that at the beginning of the month. But while impressive on the surface, there are obvious issues – notably a pitching staff, who end April with a collective ERA north of five (5.09 if my math is correct), and ranked 28th in the majors. That’s the highest figure through 30 games since the hell which was 2020. Of course, there are positives as well. The amazing performance of Ildemaro Vargas, the unexpected rookie production from Jose Fernandez and veteran Nolan Arenado, and Corbin Carroll continuing to be Corbin Carroll. But what is your overall take on the team as we enter May?

That’s what the poll below would be for. You can explain your decision in the comments, especially if your vote has changed from last time. Link for mobile.

The Cleveland Cavaliers exorcised some of their demons in their Game 5 win over the Toronto Raptors. They overcame a double-digit second-half deficit to pull out a much-needed victory. They now have a 3-2 lead as the series shifts back to Canada.

Despite the win, the series isn’t over yet. This Raptors team has found ways to continually pull themselves off the mat, even though they’ve been missing key players throughout this series.

The Cavs have a chance to show that they’ve learned from the mistakes that plagued them in games 3 and 4. And if they’re going to do that, they’ll likely need more from Donovan Mitchell.

Mitchell is having an uncharacteristically inefficient series, especially in the last three games. Since Game 3, he’s averaging just 18 points, three assists, and three turnovers on .351/.333/1.000 shooting splits. We’ll see if that changes in this closeout game.

Who: Cleveland Cavaliers (3-2) at Toronto Raptors (2-3)

Where: Scotiabank Arena – Toronto, ON

When: Fri., May 1 at 7:30 PM

TV: Prime Video

Point spread: Cavs -3.5

Cavs injury report: None

Raptors injury report: Brandon Ingram – QUESTIONABLE (heel), Immanuel Quickley – OUT (hamstring)

Cavs expectedstarting lineup: James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, Max Strus, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen

Raptors expected starting lineup: Jakobe Walter, RJ Barrett, Jamison Battle, Scottie Barnes, Jakob Poeltl

Previous matchup: The Cavs defeated the Raptors 125-120 in Game 5.

Here’s a look at both teams’ regular-season impact stats via Cleaning the Glass.

	Offensive Rating	Defensive Rating	Net Rating
Cavs	118.9 (8th)	115 (15th)	+3.9 (9th)
Raptors	116.8 (13th)	113.2 (7th)	+3.6 (11th)

Three-time Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) title challenger Yoel Romero faced off with fellow UFC alumni Alex Nicholson at the conclusion of the Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA official weigh-ins this morning in Miami, Florida. The two collide tomorrow night (Fri., May 1, 2026) in a main event that promises pure chaos.

In the co-main event, former two-division Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) champion Luis Palomino returns to MMA against former UFC fighter Darrell Horcher.

Watch the staredowns below:

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Romero (16-7) enters the fight after dropping a decision in a bare-knuckle bout overseas. He hasn’t competed in MMA since defeating Thiago Santos on the PFL vs. Bellator card in early 2024; however, the 48-year-old has stayed incredibly active across multiple disciplines. He’s notched knockout wins in Dirty Boxing, made a successful stop in BKFC.

Meanwhile, Nicholson (16-11) hasn’t won a fight since September 2024, when he knocked out former UFC fighter Zac Pauga. “The Spartan” is currently 1-2 in Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA, knocking out Prince McLean in his debut but then getting stopped by Chase Sherman and Frank Tate.

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Gamebred Bareknuckle MMAwill stream for free tomorrow on YouTube right here.

There are only 10 games left on the schedule, and as it stands now Arizona will finish with a losing record for the first time since 2014. To finish above .500 would require the Wildcats making a deep run in the Big 12 Tournament, getting into which isn’t a guarantee.

Arizona (16-27, 7-14) currently sits in 12^th place out of 14 schools, with the top 12 making the tourney May 19-23 in Surprise. The Wildcats are a game ahead of Texas Tech and two behind the trio of Baylor, Kansas State and Utah with three league series to go.

The first of those for the UA is against the current frontrunner, Kansas, who is 17-4 in the Big 12 and 34-11 overall. Winning one game this weekend would go a long way toward ensuring it makes the conference tournament, since next weekend’s final home series is against last-place Houston (19-25, 4-17).

“We’re trying to win every game because we want to play in the Big 12 Tournament, and we have some work to do,” UA coach Chip Hale said Wednesday.

That was just over 12 hours removed from one of the most painful losses of the season, a 9-8 walkoff defeat at GCU that saw Arizona rally from down 3-0 early only to blow a 4-run lead in the bottom of the 9^th. Everything that could go wrong in that final inning did, which has been a common occurrence this season.

“It was almost the culmination of what’s gone on all year,” he said. “We just continue to, whether it’s a walk, a hit batsman, wild pitches, an error, we put guys in scoring position when we don’t have to. Like, they haven’t earned it, I guess I should put it that way, and I think that’s hurt us a lot this year, whether it’s in the last couple innings or even early in the game.”

The UA is 6-11 in games decided by one or two runs this season. Last year, in reaching the College World Series, it was 20-3.

Arizona has only won one weekend series in Big 12 play, that being at TCU on the last road trip. The Wildcats took two of three, with both wins coming in the 9^th after trailing most of the game.

“I think it was just playing loose, like nobody was tense,” first baseman Tony Lira said of that series. “I feel like everybody knew that we have been the battle back team. We’ve been down a lot of games, and we came back and won. Those were those fun games that we just saw, like we got this, we got this.”

Lira, a redshirt freshman, continues to lead Arizona in batting at .360. He’s also tops on the team in hits (63), doubles (14) and OPS (.980), and that’s been with opponents adjusting to how Lira handles at-bats with two strikes.

“His approach at the plate is very mature,” Hale said. “He takes his hits to right. He works counts. I think what Tony was really, really elite at early in the year was the 2-strike approach. He’d flip it and he would just take the hits to right, where the teams now have pitched him completely different. So he’s had to make some changes. And that’s what this game is about, right? Whether you’re in college with all the video now or in pro ball, they’re going to keep changing what they do to be successful, and he has to keep changing.”

Maturity and experience are in short supply in Arizona’s batting order, where it regularly has five or more true or redshirt freshmen playing. While Hale believes those guys are the ones who give his team the best chance to win these final games are also an unofficial tryout for 2027.

It’s a similar situation to Hale’s first season playing at the UA, in 1984, when a very young team went 22-36 (the second-most losses in school history) and coach Jerry Kindall “flipped” the roster the following offseason.

“We had a lot of talented guys that ended up playing in other places for the rest of their careers,” Hale said. “Ended up playing pro ball too, but just weren’t, great fits as Wildcats. And is that coming when the season ends, you know, we’re still trying to evaluate that. We’re still trying to put guys in some positions to see whether they belong or not.”

Tuesday’s loss at GCU was similar to one against Kansas State two weeks ago when several normally reliable relievers all struggled at once.

“We just got to forget about it, it was one inning,” said righty Corey Kling, who had thrown 2.1 scoreless innings earlier in the game. “Everybody that went in there has been good in the past, and they shouldn’t let that affect them. Things happen. I mean, it happens to the best of us.”

Kling, a junior transfer from South Florida who is 1-1 with a 4.70 ERA in 17 appearances, has four outings this season where he’s allowed multiple runs but also 10 scoreless efforts. Seven of those have been for two or more innings.

“I just try and go out there and pick up somebody if they need to be picked up,” Kling said. “Or we need a lot of innings out of the pen, go try and just do my best, get it done.”

After shifting lefty Luc Fladda to the front of the rotation last weekend, in order to keep righties Owen Kramkowski and Smith Bailey on their regular days, Arizona will go back to having Kramkowski open the series. All three UA starters have won Big 12 Pitcher of the Week honors, with Fladda the latest to do so.

Fladda threw two innings at GCU, striking out three with no walks, and remains fourth nationally in walks allowed per nine innings (0.77) and third in strikeout-to-walk ratio (10.4).

The Cleveland Cavaliers exorcised some of their demons in their Game 5 win over the Toronto Raptors. They overcame a double-digit second-half deficit to pull out a much-needed victory. They now have a 3-2 lead as the series shifts back to Canada.

Despite the win, the series isn’t over yet. This Raptors team has found ways to continually pull themselves off the mat, even though they’ve been missing key players throughout this series.

The Cavs have a chance to show that they’ve learned from the mistakes that plagued them in games 3 and 4. And if they’re going to do that, they’ll likely need more from Donovan Mitchell.

Mitchell is having an uncharacteristically inefficient series, especially in the last three games. Since Game 3, he’s averaging just 18 points, three assists, and three turnovers on .351/.333/1.000 shooting splits. We’ll see if that changes in this closeout game.

Who: Cleveland Cavaliers (3-2) at Toronto Raptors (2-3)

Where: Scotiabank Arena – Toronto, ON

When: Fri., May 1 at 7:30 PM

TV: Prime Video

Point spread: Cavs -3.5

Cavs injury report: None

Raptors injury report: Brandon Ingram – QUESTIONABLE (heel), Immanuel Quickley – OUT (hamstring)

Cavs expectedstarting lineup: James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, Max Strus, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen

Raptors expected starting lineup: Jakobe Walter, RJ Barrett, Jamison Battle, Scottie Barnes, Jakob Poeltl

Previous matchup: The Cavs defeated the Raptors 125-120 in Game 5.

Here’s a look at both teams’ regular-season impact stats via Cleaning the Glass.

	Offensive Rating	Defensive Rating	Net Rating
Cavs	118.9 (8th)	115 (15th)	+3.9 (9th)
Raptors	116.8 (13th)	113.2 (7th)	+3.6 (11th)

Bayern Munich’s youth system continues to revamp under the stewardship of sporting director Christoph Freund. Now that he has sole control of the FC Bayern Campus without board member for sport Max Eberl’s input, he is taking big swing after big swing to restructure it in his vision. He brought his own director in, he is letting go of a lot of the coaches at the Campus for fresh blood and is reportedly bringing back a former Bayern icon to manage the U-23s.

But this is not just about the individual moves Freund is making. The philosophy he brings from his successful days in charge of RB Salzburg and their feeder club, FC Liefering, is being used to change things at the FC Bayern Campus. Which is existentially terrifying, because Red Bull is an evil company. But perhaps Bayern can learn from their successes and evolve with the help with one of their former top employees. Bild reports, as captured by @iMiaSanMia, that Freund has established a brand new philosophy for the U-23s’s coaches:

The appointment of Dante as new FC Bayern II head coach marks the start of a new strategy by the club. The future model, meticulously developed over several months, envisions that young coaches will take charge of the second team – coaches who are still at the beginning of their careers and, ideally, have previously played for FC Bayern. The idea behind the strategy: The former players gain experience in coaching and are given the opportunity to develop at Bayern – in order to then take the next step. Bayern want to train former players into coaches from whom they can still benefit even after their departures – for example, through their network and identification with FC Bayern, especially if they end up at top clubs in the future. Sporting director Christoph Freund played a key role in this strategy, with the role model being RB Salzburg, where Freund worked for eight years. RB repeatedly formed coaches through their ‘farm club’ FC Liefering, who then went on to work at Salzburg and ultimately elsewhere, like Matthias Jaisse, Thomas Letsch, Oliver Glasner, Bo Svensson, Marco Rose and Adi Hütter.

BFW Analysis

The new strategy is…the old strategy? Bayern have struggled to keep a manager of the U-23s for long, with the longest appointment as U-23 manager in the last decade and a half lasting just two years before current manager Holger Seitz took charge (again). Most notably, the two managers of the U-23s before Seitz’s latest term were Sebastian Hoeneß and Martin Demichelis. Notably, Sebastian is Uli Hoeneß’s nephew and the Argentinian Martin Demichelis is a former player at Bayern. Hoeneß and Demichelis were both young coaches who had Bayern connections, but they also used the job as a spring board to TSG Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga and River Plate, one of the two biggest clubs in Argentina, respectively, interrupting the continuity of the young players at the club. The continuity is why Bayern opted to retain the safe and boring choice in Seitz for so long.

Hoeneß and Demichelis are almost exactly the sort of coaches this new model would be focused on developing. But their development has hardly born fruit for the club itself.

The idea of developing coaches to go on to help Bayern even after their departure is a difficult one to see working out at Bayern. FC Liefering could do it because they were a feeder club to a team with greater ambitions. Bayern clearly, fortunately, are not a feeder club. If the previous coaches could get such illustrious jobs offers during their stint at Bayern’s U-23s, in what capacity would they wish to work at Bayern aside from the head coach job? Unless one of these former players turn out to be another Vincent Kompany, it is hard to imagine the development of young coaches benefitting Bayern.

But hey, Freund did exceptional work at Salzburg and Liefering. He is an expert in this regard, so it is worth seeing how this process, if the story is true, will play out.

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If you are looking for more Bayern Munich and German national team coverage, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can get on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor…

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Knicks up big in the 3rd quarter vs. Hawks: Game 6 live score, updates, highlights originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The New York Knicks can close out the Atlanta Hawks in Game 6 of the NBA Playoffs first-round on Thursday night. This has been a dominating series with double-digit wins for Mike Brown’s team.

Jalen Brunson scored 39 points on 15-of-23 shooting in Game 5. The Knicks are seventh in the NBA with 45.6 rebounds per game led by Karl-Anthony Towns averaging 11.9.

This has been an interesting series for New York, who’ll look to advance over a struggling Hawks team. Atlanta is 7-8 in games decided by 3 points or fewer. Dyson Daniels is scoring 11.9 points per game and averaging 6.8 rebounds for the Hawks. CJ McCollum is averaging 18.7 points and 2.8 rebounds over the last 10 games.

NBA PLAYOFFS HQ: Live scores | Full schedule | Updated bracket

Knicks vs. Hawks live updates, highlights from Game 6 of NBA playoffs

3rd Quarter- 5:24: Knicks has eased off with the huge lead on every possession. NY hasn’t scored in the last three and a half minutes. 

3rd Quarter- 6:43: Knicks up 103-50. A quick seven points forces Mike Brown to call a timeout.  

3rd Quarter- 7:51: Knicks up by 60 (103-43) in Atlanta. 

3rd Quarter- 8:44: Knicks up 99-40. One of the worst Playoff games in recent memory.

3rd Quarter- 10:51: Knicks start off the quarter with a 10-0 run to take a 93-36 lead. Not what Atlanta wanted. 

More: Knicks embarrass Hawks with biggest halftime lead in NBA Playoff history

Halftime: Knicks 83, Hawks 36

Team Stats

Halftime	Knicks	Hawks
FG	28-43	12-39
Field Goal %	65	31
3PT	7-16	4-18
Three Point %	44	22
FT	20-22	8-10
Free Throw %	91	80
Rebounds	24	15
Offensive Rebounds	5	6
Defensive Rebounds	19	9
Assists	21	7
Steals	12	3
Blocks	4	3
Total Turnovers	5	14
Points Off Turnovers	6	20
Fast Break Points	18	3
Points in Paint	36	12
Fouls	12	13
Technical Fouls	2	2
Flagrant Fouls	0	0
Largest Lead	51	4
Percent Led	92	6

The Knicks were only 2.5-point favorites on @DKSportsbook, but they went on a 39-4 run and are rolling in Atlanta 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Vx4plMjlNt

— ESPN BET (@ESPNBET) May 1, 2026

2nd Quarter- 2:00: 80-34 Knicks up big

2nd Quarter- 2:59: TV Timeout. Knicks by 49 and need nine points in the half to tie the most in NBA Playoffs history.

2nd Quarter- 3:43: Knicks up 51, 76-25, with the Hawks struggling in a bad 1st half

2nd Quarter- 4:39: Knicks up 50 by a score of 72-22. Fight on the floor with both NY’s Mitchell Robinson and ATL’s Dyson Daniels ejected. 

CHAOS IN KNICKS-HAWKS 😳

Both Mitchell Robinson and Dyson Daniels were assessed with technical fouls and ejected from the game. pic.twitter.com/sjeATc59Pl

— ESPN (@espn) May 1, 2026

2nd Quarter- 6:43: Knicks up 62-19 Atlanta on the verge of history here. 

The Houston Rockets hold the record for the fewest points scored in a single half of an NBA playoff game, scoring only 25 points in the second half of Game 6 of the 2018 Western Conference Finals against the Golden State Warriors.

2nd Quarter- 4:39: Knicks are rolling 71-22

Most Team Points in a Half NBA Playoffs: 87 — Oklahoma City Thunder (May 7, 2025 vs. DEN)

2nd Quarter- 7:11: New York takes a 41-point, which is more than double the amount of points the Hawks have scored thus far, 60-19  

2nd Quarter- 9:19: Atlanta first point of the quarter comes off a technical foul shot. 

2nd Quarter- 9:20: Knicks on 38-4 run in last 11 mins of play

2nd Quarter- 9:58: Knicks up 48-15 with free throws from KAT.

2nd Quarter- 10:19: OG Anunoby 18 points, Atlanta Hawks, 15 points. 

End of 1st Quarter: Knicks 40, Hawks 15

1st Quarter- 27.7 seconds: The Hawks are taking a beating early. 38-15 with no answer. 

1st Quarter- 1:34: Knicks throwing punches with a 34-15 lead. Eight Hawks turnovers aren’t helping. 

1st Quarter- 3:19: TV timeout. Knicks on a 16-2 run and looking strong early. This isn’t a good sign for the Hawks. 

1st Quarter- 5:21: Knicks on an 12-0 run and up 21-11 

1st Quarter- 6:55: TV timeout. OG Anunoby with a quick 10 points to lead the Knicks, who are up 15-10 

OG Anunoby is 4-4 to start Game 6 vs. the Hawks on ESPN 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Pp4446cf4a

— ESPN (@espn) April 30, 2026

1st Quarter- 7:42: Both teams trade buckets with the Knicks retaking a 12-11 lead

1st Quarter- 9:30: Hawks respond with three quick buckets to take a 6-5 lead

1st Quarter-10:40: Knicks open with a 5-0 lead 

Tip-off from Atlanta

“Mike Brown has the roux for his gumbo. Don’t go switch it up, you got the recipe.” @KendrickPerkins has an all-time analogy for the Knicks’ offense 😂 pic.twitter.com/wnve2slhhu

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) April 30, 2026

How to Watch New York Knicks vs. Atlanta Hawks Game 6 NBA Playoffs

Thursday, April 30 7 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN
Knicks lead series 3-2

Knicks vs. Hawks Game 6 will be broadcast by ABC on ESPN and will stream live on the ESPN app.

Now you can watch ESPN without cable. Stream live NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, college sports, plus SportsCenter, First Take, and all your favorite ESPN shows—anytime, anywhere—only in the ESPN app.

More NBA Playoffs news:

• Scottie Barnes makes Raptors history never done before in Toronto basketball
• Donovan Mitchell makes a surprising admission about his Game 4 performance
• Raptors make surprising 32% FG NBA history record in Game 4 win over Cavaliers
• Raptors upset Cavaliers, Collin Murray-Boyles secures Magic Johnson NBA Playoffs feat