Sports
RHP Justin Verlander returning to Tigers on 1-year, $13M deal
Sep 17, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; San Francisco Giants pitcher Justin Verlander (35) watches from the dugout after pitching 7 innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images Three-time Cy Young Award winner and 2011 American League MVP Justin Verlander is returning to where the right-hander’s highly decorated career started, agreeing with the Detroit Tigers on a one-year contract worth $13 million guaranteed, the team announced on Tuesday.
Verlander, who turns 43 on Feb. 20, will receive $11 million in deferred payments starting in 2030 as part of the deal.
A nine-time All-Star, Verlander pitched last season for the San Francisco Giants in his lone campaign on a National League team. After a 0-8 start with a 4.99 ERA, he finished 4-11 with 3.85 ERA, 52 walks and 137 strikeouts in 152 innings over 29 starts.
For his career, Verlander is 266-158 with a 3.32 ERA, 1,004 walks and 3,553 strikeouts in 3567 2/3 innings over 555 regular-season games (all starts) for the Tigers (2005-17), Houston Astros (2017-20, 2022, 2023-24), New York Mets (2023) and Giants (2025). He missed the 2021 season after having Tommy John surgery in September 2020.
In 13 years with the Tigers, Verlander was 183-114 with a 3.49 ERA, 766 walks and 2,373 strikeouts in 2,511 innings over 380 regular-season games. He was the AL Rookie of the Year in 2006 and swept AL MVP and Cy Young honors in 2011.
Verlander is MLB’s active leader in wins (266, 37th all-time), complete games (26), losses (158), games started (555), strikeouts (3,553, eighth all-time), innings pitched (3,567 2/3), walks (1,004), hits allowed (3,046), earned runs allowed (1,317) and batters faced (14,607).
He has a playoff record of 17-12 with a 3.58 ERA, 74 walks and 244 strikeouts in 266 innings over 38 games (37 starts) with one shutout. He was on World Series championship teams with the Astros in 2017 — when he was voted American League Championship Series MVP — and 2022.
Verlander collected Cy Young Awards in 2011 with Detroit, and 2019 and 2022 with Houston. He made the AL All-Star team in 2007, 2009-13, 2018-19 and 2022.
Only Verlander and Hall of Famer Don Newcombe have won Rookie of the Year, MVP and Cy Young honors.
Detroit selected Verlander with the second overall pick of the 2004 MLB Draft out of Old Dominion University.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Report: Cavaliers sign F Nae'Qwan Tomlin to 2-year contract
Jan 30, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward Nae’Qwan Tomlin (35) against the Phoenix Suns at Mortgage Matchup Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images The Cleveland Cavaliers are signing two-way forward Nae’Qwan Tomlin to a two-year, $3 million fully guaranteed contract, ESPN reported on Tuesday.
An undrafted second-year player out of Memphis, Tomlin has taken on a much larger role this season.
After playing five games as a rookie last season, he’s appeared in 43 of the Cavaliers’ 54 games this season (two starts). Tomlin, 25, is averaging 6.5 points and 3.1 rebounds in 17.1 minutes per game, shooting 48.7% from the floor.
Cleveland (33-21) currently sits in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, a game ahead of the Toronto Raptors and 1.5 games back of the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks, who are tied for second.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Patriots' Will Campbell sorry for Super Bowl media snub
Feb 3, 2026; Santa Clara, CA, USA; New England Patriots offensive tackle Will Campbell speaks to the media during Super Bowl LX press conference at Santa Clara Marriott. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images New England Patriots rookie left tackle Will Campbell apologized to the media on Tuesday, two days after he skipped out on reporters following the team’s loss in Super Bowl LX.
Campbell, 22, said he wanted to get his head on straight before speaking into a live microphone after he allowed a sack and a Next Gen Stats-attributed 14 QB pressures allowed against an aggressive Seattle Seahawks defense. It didn’t get much better from there for the Patriots, who dropped a 29-13 decision to the Seahawks on Sunday in Santa Clara, Calif.
“When I get emotional, I tend to have no mind, and that’s not the way that I need to approach this thing,” Campbell said of snubbing the media. “I know myself, and if I would have spoken after, I would have said something that I didn’t need to say. So, I slept on it, I watched it. I know what I got to get better at and move on.”
Campbell admitted he was the target of criticism on social media, especially given that the Patriots selected him with the fourth overall pick of the 2025 NFL Draft.
“It comes with the job when you don’t perform. Obviously I was picked high, paid a lot. So people expect a certain thing, and I expect more of myself,” Campbell said. “So whenever I don’t perform, I don’t expect everyone to be like, ‘It’s OK, buddy.’ I mean, obviously it sucks. But it doesn’t suck for anyone more than it sucks for me.”
Campbell also acknowledged that the MCL sprain he sustained against the Cincinnati Bengals on Nov. 23 affected his performance late in the season. He was carted off the field in that game and went on injured reserve before returning for Week 18 and the playoffs.
The blind-side protector of quarterback Drake Maye wasn’t using it as an excuse, however.
“Obviously it wasn’t 100%. When you tear a ligament in your knee, it’s not gonna be how it was before. But I was healthy enough to go,” he said. “I’m not gonna say that it held me back, but it wasn’t the same as it was before. But I was good.”
There’s been chatter about if Campbell’s future will be at guard instead of left tackle after his postseason struggles, but Patriots coach Mike Vrabel wasn’t having any of that.
“Will is 22 years old. He’s our left tackle. He’ll get better. He’ll get stronger,” Vrabel said Tuesday. ” … There’s plays he’d like to have back. We’re not moving Will to guard, center, tight end or anywhere else.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Thunder's Nikola Topic back after cancer battle
Oct 5, 2025; North Charleston, South Carolina, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Nikola Topic (44) drives up the court against the Charlotte Hornets at North Charleston Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Arthur Ellis-Imagn Images Nikola Topic, an Oklahoma City Thunder first-round pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, made his debut in the G League Monday night as he returned from fighting testicular cancer.
The 12th overall pick in that draft, Topic scored seven points and added seven assists in 16 minutes for the Oklahoma City Blue in their 137-135 overtime win over the Sioux Falls Skyforce.
He is a 6-foot-6 point guard from Serbia.
Topic, 20, has yet to play in a regular-season game for the Thunder. He tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee a few weeks before the draft and did not play as a rookie. Then, in October, he was diagnosed with cancer and underwent chemotherapy.
“There was probably a ton of emotions that he was going through,” Blue head coach Daniel Dixon told reporters postgame. “Having something taken away from you that you loved from a young age cannot be easy, and so, just to see his resilience and him to know that the whole organization is behind him, we’re pushing him forward.”
He added: “Just seeing him crack a smile while being out there on the court again, doing what he enjoys doing, what he loves to do, being out there with his teammates. I mean, there was so many positive things.”
–Field Level Media
Report: Cavaliers sign F Nae'Qwan Tomlin to 2-year contract
Patriots' Will Campbell sorry for Super Bowl media snub
