Sports
Report: Falcons to cut Kirk Cousins before new league year
Feb 6, 2026; San Francisco, CA, USA; Kirk Cousins on the Opening Drive show at the SiriusXM NFL radio set at the Super Bowl LX media center at the Moscone Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Kirk Cousins soon will get to decide where he wants to play in 2026 — or whether he wants to play at all — as the Atlanta Falcons are expected to part ways with the veteran quarterback before the new league year begins in mid-March, ESPN reported Saturday.
Last month, the 37-year-old Cousins and the Falcons agreed to modify the final two seasons of his four-year, $180 million contract. The adjusted deal gave the Falcons salary-cap flexibility and also set up a decision to be made about Cousins’ future in Atlanta by the third day of the 2026 NFL league year on March 13.
The modified deal reduced his 2026 base salary from a non-guaranteed $35 million to just $2.1 million. The difference of $32.9 million matches the increase of his 2027 salary.
Cousins, who has a no-trade clause, still has a guaranteed $10 million roster bonus for 2026.
Per ESPN, Cousins has not ruled out playing next season. But if he retires after 14 NFL seasons, he could move over to television after appearing on CBS’ pregame show during this postseason.
The Falcons, meanwhile, have not committed to Michael Penix Jr. as the starter. Penix, who suffered a torn left ACL in November and could need nine to 12 months to recover, said in recent interviews that he expects to be ready for the season opener in September.
Atlanta president of football Matt Ryan said that no position is set, and that the front office would have “a lot of discussions for us about the entire roster.”
A four-time Pro Bowl selection, Cousins completed 61.7% of his passes for 1,721 yards with 10 touchdowns and five interceptions in 10 games (eight starts). Atlanta was 5-3 in Cousins’ starts, including a four-game winning streak to close the season in a three-way tie for the NFC South crown.
Whomever the starting QB is, he will be under the guidance of new head coach Kevin Stefanski, who was hired last month, along with new general manager Ian Cunningham. Head coach Raheem Morris and GM Terry Fontenot were dismissed early last month following a second straight 8-9 campaign.
–Field Level Media
Sports
No. 23 Miami (Ohio) remains undefeated after breezing past Marshall
Miami RedHawks head coach Travis Steele waives communicates to his team in the second half of the NCAA Basketball game at Millett Hall in Oxford, Ohio, on Saturday, January 31, 2026. Eian Elmer scored 12 of his team-high 18 points in the first half and grabbed nine rebounds, while Peter Suder added 17 points and seven rebounds to keep No. 23 Miami (Ohio) unbeaten with a 90-74 road win over Marshall on Saturday afternoon in Huntington, West Virginia.
Antwone Wilfork added 15 points and seven rebounds for Miami (24-0), which led wire-to-wire. Miami and No. 1 Arizona remain the only two Division I unbeaten men’s basketball in the country.
Noah Otshudi had a game-high 23 points, while Wyatt Fricks added 16 points and 10 rebounds for Marshall (15-9).
While the game was scheduled as part of the Mid-American /Sun Belt Conference challenge, the two schools were longtime rivals in the MAC, with the RedHawks extending their lead in the all-time series 49-29.
Marshall was playing without one of its key players for a second straight game, as injured 7-foot-4 Matt Van Komen sat on the bench in street clothes. Van Komen ranks sixth in the country with 58 blocks this season.
Miami took advantage early, racing out to a 9-2 lead. Leading 22-16, Miami erupted for a 19-1 run, highlighted by a four-point play from Almar Atlason in a 13-0 spurt. Elmer was also big early for Miami, draining all four of his 3-point attempts for 12 first-half points.
Marshall missed nine of its first 10 from beyond the arc and opened the game ice-cold from the field. After making six of their first 11, the Herd missed 17 straight shots, including six 3-point attempts. Marshall finished the first half just 10-of-33 from the floor.
Trailing 41-17, Marshall did cut into Miami’s lead before the break, outscoring the RedHawks 14-8 to trim Miami’s lead to 49-31 at the half.
Miami scored the opening basket of the second half to restore the 20-point lead, and Miami led 56-36 before Marshall made a charge to cut the RedHawks lead down to 59-49. But Marshall point guard Jalen Speer picked up his fourth personal foul with 11:41 left in the second half and had to go to the bench, and Miami answered with six straight points.
Marshall cut the deficit to single digits twice in the final 10 minutes but could only get as close as 67-58 on an Otshudi layup with 7:46 remaining.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Jason Edwards, Providence flush DePaul
Feb 7, 2026; Providence, Rhode Island, USA; Providence Friars forward Oswin Erhunmwunse (55) dunks the ball against DePaul Blue Demons center Fabian Flores (15) during the first half at Amica Mutual Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images Jason Edwards returned from a seven-game injury absence to score a game-high 25 points and lead Providence to a 90-72 Big East win over visiting DePaul on Saturday afternoon.
Edwards shot 8 of 13 overall, including 5-for-8 from 3-point range, and added four rebounds and two assists in just 24 minutes as the Friars never trailed.
Jaylin Sellers added 21 points, Ryan Mela posted 16 points and eight rebounds and Oswin Erhunmwunse stacked up 10 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks for Providence (11-13, 4-9), which has won back-to-back Big East games for the first time this season.
Providence’s conference-best offense clicked at 58.9%, including 65.4% after intermission, as the hosts cruised to a 17-point halftime lead.
Brandon Maclin scored 17 points to lead three double-figure scorers for DePaul (12-12, 4-9), which has lost four straight. Kaleb Banks had 11 points and N.J. Benson 10 with seven boards.
Erhunmwunse’s dunk and Sellers’ 3-pointer helped Providence start with a 5-0 lead, but CJ Gunn opened DePaul’s scoring with a midrange jumper and capped a 7-2 run with a game-tying 3-pointer in transition at the 16:29 mark.
That would be the only tie of the game as the Friars held the Blue Demons to one field goal over the next six minutes while building their lead to double digits. Jamier Jones started the 10-2 spree with a 3-point play, then Sellers followed with a 3-pointer and a stepback jumper.
Benson’s alley-oop dunk finished a quick 5-0 DePaul burst to close within 22-16 with 9:07 left, but that inspired another big Providence run. Erhunmwunse scored eight straight, including flying in for a putback dunk and finishing an Edwards assist through traffic, to seize a 38-20 lead with 3:10 to go.
After falling behind 43-26 at the break, DePaul scored on its first six possessions of the second half — including eight points by Maclin. However, that only trimmed Providence’s lead to 51-38 as the Friars kept rolling, too.
Stefan Vaaks and Jones flushed back-to-back dunks to cap a 9-0 Friars run in just 2:02 that upped their lead to 62-40 with 12:25 to go. Providence led by as much as 27 before DePaul closed on a 11-2 run.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Oklahoma stuns No. 15 Vanderbilt to end nine-game skid
Feb 7, 2026; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Oklahoma Sooners forward Mohamed Wague (5) blocks the shot of Vanderbilt Commodores forward Ak Okereke (10) during the first half at Memorial Gymnasium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images Xzayvier Brown scored 20 points and Oklahoma led from start to finish and eventually held on for a 92-91 road win at No. 15 Vanderbilt in Southeastern Conference play at Nashville, Tenn., on Saturday afternoon.
The Sooners (12-12, 2-9 SEC) shot 53.4% from the floor and snapped a nine-game losing streak.
Brown canned a pair of free throws with 3.4 seconds left that turned out to be crucial when Tyler Tanner (37 points, nine assists) banked in a 3 at the buzzer for the Commodores.
The Sooners received 17 points from Nigel Pack and 14 from Tae Davis.
Vanderbilt (19-4, 6-4) got 18 points from Tyler Nickel and 13 from AK Okereke.
Vanderbilt shot 47.4% from the field.
Brown hit a lay-up off a Derrion Reid steal to put the lead over 20 (61-40) for the first time with 15:47 to play.
The Sooners milked the shot clock inside 10 seconds for much of the remainder of the game until it nearly backfired. They led 80-59 with 4:59 left until Tanner, who had 26 in the second half, led a furious comeback.
Oklahoma took a 48-34 halftime lead thanks to 58.6% to 38.5% edge in shooting as well as advantages in turnovers (8-6) edge in turnovers and rebounding (18-13).
Davis hit his first five shots and scored 14 points as part of the Sooners’ 24-8 lead in the game’s first 7:21. Oklahoma connected on 9 of its first 13 shots, four of them 3s.
Vanderbilt clawed within 33-27, but the Sooners put together a 9-2 run to go up 42-29 after Jones canned a corner 3, drew a third foul on Mike James and then hit the ensuing free throw.
Tanner played with his right (shooting) thumb taped in the second half. He was the only one of Vanderbilt’s point guards to play on Saturday as Duke Miles (16.6 ppg) and Frankie Collins (7.8) were both out again with injuries.
It was a Quad 3 loss for Vanderbilt, which hadn’t lost outside Quad 1 this season.
–Field Level Media
