Four days of tryouts for the inaugural season of the Women’s Professional Baseball League drew to a close with a pair of scrimmages Aug. 25.
The league will announce the half dozen teams competing at one to three fixed sites next month.
The inaugural draft, for which these women were trying out, will be held in October.

WASHINGTON – As four days of tryouts for the inaugural season of the Women’s Professional Baseball League drew to a close with a pair of scrimmages Aug. 25, Maybelle Blair remained awestruck by what she was witnessing.

Now 98, Blair remains tack-sharp and retains the fighting spirit it took to play in the World War II-era All-American Girls Professional Baseball League – along with the ability, still, to bridge generations.

As dozens of women waited to take the field under a gorgeous morning sky at Nationals Park, here was Blair, throwing out the first pitch to Mo’Ne Davis, the 25-year-old former Little League World Series star who saw the arc of women’s sports come all the way around to create a league to house her unique athletic abilities.

They’re separated by nearly 75 years, yet on this day, very much connected.

“I never ever in my whole life figured we would have another league of our own,” Blair said, referencing the 1992 movie that chronicled the, at that time, largely forgotten AAGPL.

“I’m re-living my life through these girls. The good old boys in baseball always wanted to keep baseball for the boys. ‘You should play softball No, we shouldn’t. We should play baseball.

“I’m still on this side of the grass to witness it.”

Blair could have scarcely imagined the modern trappings and the access to the game the hundreds of women enjoyed. Baserunning oven mitts and arm guards, catchers in a one-knee-down stance, pitchers using the most modern techniques to workshop pitches and increase velocity – this generation has lived through much of the game’s revolution.

It’s just that now, at a booming time for women’s sports, there’s an outlet for their skills.

It is coming quickly: The Women’s Professional Baseball League will announce the half dozen teams competing at one to three fixed sites next month. The inaugural draft, for which these women were trying out, will be held in October.

And in May, the league will launch, a pinch-me moment for players accustomed to playing with men or getting shuttled to other sports.

“The WPBL is here,” league co-founder Justine Siegal said in addressing the players. “It’s now. And it’s never leaving.”

‘This is an incredible moment’

To be certain, the league does not have the backbone of a parent league like the WNBA-NBA relationship, nor the network television access NBC provided the W at the outset. Yet it does have eyes on a model for growth and penetrating the attention economy.

The league has a partnership with Fremantle, the production and distribution company behind America’s Got Talent, American Idol and dozens of other original content vehicles. The company is producing a docuseries but perhaps more important, will be responsible for content distribution.

“This is an incredible moment,” says league co-founder Keith Stein, a Canadian baseball executive. “I think the stock of women’s sports leagues has way more upside. And we can build a league that’s designed, that’s tailored for this type of climate, this social media world we live in.

“Linear TV has changed, the whole media landscape has changed. So, we don’t have to try to fit a square peg into a round hole.
And that’s why we’re thinking a lot about innovations we can implement in the game itself to make it more compelling to fans, and more compelling for the media world we live in.”

Of course, compelling will have to come from the players.

‘A moment that gave me chills’

Kelsie Whitmore has seen just about every dimension of the bat-ball sports world – from high school baseball to college softball to Women’s World Cup International competition to independent pro ball against former major leaguers.

Now, she’s one of three current members of the barnstorming Savannah Bananas playing in the WPBL. And after years of playing with men, trying to find a catch partner or a person to split a meal with or sit near on the bus, the scope of this experience dawned on her this weekend.

She and several other players were going out to dinner Sunday when it dawned on her: They were pro ballplayers going to socialize with each other.

“It was a moment that gave me chills,” says Whitmore. “Being a woman in a male environment, trying to make conversation. The little things like that mean a lot. It brings freedom. It allows you to feel so free with yourself.”

And the competition this past weekend was eye-opening for another reason. Whitmore has played for the U.S. Women’s National Team since she was in high school, and invariably the countries claiming medals will be Japan (which has won the last seven championships), Canada and Team USA.

Yet Monday, Whitmore and longtime Canadian rival pitchers Jaida Lee and Alli Schroder, and Japanese legend Ayami Sato?

They were all on one field, playing for the same team, in a sense, even as they’ll be divvied up and distributed among a half-dozen teams. The uptick in the level of play was undeniable: Ninety feet between the bases shrank easily, fastballs from 60 feet hummed and curveballs landed with aplomb. Every throw from deep short made with ease, and a few balls found homes in Nationals Park’s gaps.

While not every elite player found their way to tryouts, these were truly the best players in the world.

“The word integration – that is huge,” says Whitmore, who pitched two scoreless innings in the early scrimmage. “I was just now realizing yesterday – someone was like, ‘How does it feel to be in a women’s baseball integrated league?’

“I love it. I love that we’re having so many backgrounds, girls from other countries. It gives me chills. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from – you belong in the game.”

Davis is far removed from the 2014 Little League World Series, where she threw a shutout and became a national icon, appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated and becoming the subject of Spike Lee documentary.

She continued her basketball career, played collegiate softball at Hampton and went on to earn a graduate degree at Columbia. Competitive sports were in her past, baseball a distant memory.

Yet her competitive itch needed to be scratched, and she found that via flag football. And then, the WPBL opportunity came along.

In the decade since Davis dazzled the country, the women’s baseball ecosystem has gradually been growing. And so when Davis arrived for the league’s tryouts, she wondered how she’d be greeted in this new world.

“These last four days are some of the most fun I’ve had,” says Davis. “The women here are incredible. They’re very approachable. The first two people I met just came up and just started talking to me. Kind of felt right at home. This is my first time playing baseball with just women. The energy is great, no matter what’s going on.

“Hearing a lot of women say, this has been my dream, definitely touched my heart. Hearing them say they watched me and I inspired them – I was just out there playing a game.”

Davis’s learning curve was more apparent on the field. Facing 36-year-old Meggie Meidlinger, the 6-2 USWNT vet who won a gold medal in 2006, Davis faced a curveball the likes of which she probably had never seen and was caught looking for strike three.

Yet she is out here, and realizes the totality of what she represents.

“I never wanted to have a regret of not trying,” she says. “It means a lot that girls like me can have a future in the sport. Even on the men’s side, there’s not many African American men playing.

“It really shows that whatever you put your mind to, you have the opportunity.”

From the ground floor up

Now, she is on the ground floor of a league with a dizzying build-out the past few days. Nationals Park might be the biggest venue they play in for a while, as the league aims to right-size its fixed venues while constructing a fan base.

Regardless, the weekend was an emotional one for the league’s stakeholders. Siegal founded Baseball For All more than a decade ago and has seen it grow to more than 600 youth players for its annual national tournament – one Maybelle Blair says she’ll never miss “as long as I’m on this side of the dirt.”

The league soon will add to its front office and has lined up celebrity ambassadors for its launch. Growing pains are inevitable, but for this moment, Siegal and the players on the field were more than enough.

“I no longer feel alone,” says Siegal. “Now, we’re going to build.”

Angels manager Ron Washington visited his team for the first time since he had quadruple heart bypass surgery.
Washington, 73, said he was concerned about his health during the Angels’ trip to New York June 16-19.
Washington returned to Anaheim, California, with the team and was admitted to a local hospital on June 23. He was diagnosed with blockage in his arteries, which led to the bypass surgery.

Ron Washington was back where he belonged Monday.

In a baseball uniform, and in the Los Angeles Angels clubhouse.

Washington, who has been on medical leave as manager of the Angels since June 27, returned to see his team for the first time since he had quadruple heart bypass surgery.

Washington, 73, said he was concerned about his health during the Angels’ trip to New York June 16-19. His ankles were swollen, and he alerted the Angels’ training staff, which had him checked by New York doctors who wanted to keep him in New York.

Washington elected to return to Anaheim, California, with the team and was admitted to a local hospital on June 23. He was diagnosed with blockage in his arteries, which led to the bypass surgery.

He was discharged on July 7 and returned home to New Orleans.

“It just happened so fast,’’ Washington said at a news conference on Aug. 25 at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, “I didn’t have a chance to say much to anyone.’’

Washington, however, remained in great spirits and was always confident, in messages and conversations with USA TODAY Sports during his absence, that he would return in full health. He has stopped smoking and is eating healthier, and said he should be fully recovered by December.

He plans to return to Anaheim to be with the team in September, and expressed again Monday that he definitely wants to continue managing the Angels. Washington is in the final year of his two-year contract and the Angels have a club option for 2026.

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Preseason football is over and NFL teams are making roster decisions ahead of the final cut deadline tomorrow at 4 p.m. ET.

There’s been plenty of movement as teams cut their roster down to the final 53-player squad. As franchises make these decisions, another issue continues to loom large for the Dallas Cowboys: Micah Parsons’ contract.

The four-time Pro Bowler is holding out ahead of his fifth season, the last on his rookie contract, for a contract extension. Parsons has been one of the best defensive players in the league since Dallas selected him at No. 12 overall in the 2021 NFL Draft.

Parsons remains unsigned to an extension as the Cowboys wrapped up their preseason slate with a 31-13 win over the Atlanta Falcons. Parsons was in attendance but not suited up and was seen napping on the Cowboys’ trainer table during the game.

The Cowboys play on the opening night of the 2025 NFL season against the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. Parsons would be a key piece of attacking the Eagles’ potent offense and talented offensive line.

Parsons and the Cowboys could’ve agreed to an extension last offseason but the franchise focused on long-term deals for quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb instead.

The star edge rusher is attending mandatory activities in training camp but is not practicing until a new deal is done. Here’s the latest on his status in the final week before the regular season:

Micah Parsons contract latest updates

There’s been no reported progress on a deal between Parsons’ representation and the Cowboys. Much has come out surrounding the negotiations, though.

Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones appeared on Pro Football Hall of Famer and Cowboys legend Michael Irvin’s YouTube channel last week and described the talks between the two sides.

‘When we wanted to send the [contract] details to the agent, the agent told us to stick it up our ass,’ Jones said. ‘Micah and I talked and then we were gonna send it over to the agent. We had our agreements on term, amount, guarantees, everything.’

Jones said Parsons’ agent told him not to bother talking with the edge rusher as they still had to negotiate terms, something Jones thought already happened.

‘We’ve got this resolved in my mind, for the Dallas Cowboys,’ Jones said. ‘And we got it done. If the agent wants to finish up the details, which he should, and do all the paperwork, then he could do that. We’re ready to go. As far as the amount of money, the years, the guarantees, all of that, we negotiated that.’

Cowboys coach meeting with Parsons

Two days after Jones made those remarks on Irvin’s show, Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said he is planning to meet with Parsons following the star’s actions during the win over the Falcons.

Parsons was the only Cowboys player on the sideline in Atlanta without a jersey on. Schottenheimer wanted to speak with him after images of Parsons napping on the training table circulated on social media.

‘Without talking to Micah, I need to figure out what he was doing and why he was doing it,’ Schottenheimer said. ‘So, until I talk to him, I’m obviously not going to talk about it.’

Parsons did address his lie-down on the training table on social media shortly after the game, quoting a post from WFAA’s Mike Leslie on X saying that Parsons was lying on the table for a short period of the game.

‘The way media shapes perception and narratives is wild—and if he hadn’t said anything, everyone would’ve just run with it,’ Parsons wrote. ‘I’d never disrespect the guys out there fighting for their lives.’

When is the Cowboys’ season opener?

Dallas starts the 2025 NFL season on the road in Week 1 against the Eagles in the kickoff game for the new season.

Date: Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025
Time: 8:20 p.m. ET
Location: Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia
TV: NBC
Streaming: Peacock, NFL+, fubo

Catch the 2025 NFL season opener on fubo

Trey Hendrickson’s new deal with the Bengals sets a market value for top edge rushers, potentially influencing Micah Parsons’ negotiations with the Dallas Cowboys.
With other holdouts resolved, pressure mounts on the Cowboys to reach an agreement with Parsons before the season starts.

Two out of the NFL’s three highest profile contract holdouts ended on Monday. Jerry Jones, you’re up.

First, the Washington Commanders signed wide receiver Terry McLaurin to a three-year extension Monday morning. Then, Trey Hendrickson and the Cincinnati Bengals agreed to a unique solution to their contract negotiations Monday, ending a months-long standoff between the star defensive end and his team.

That leaves the Dallas Cowboys and edge rusher Micah Parsons the last pair of team and disgruntled star to figure out a new deal ahead of the 2025 regular season, which begins Thursday, Sept. 4.

So how does Hendrickson’s deal with the Bengals impact Parsons’ negotiations with Dallas?

There are several ways.

How Trey Hendrickson deal affects Micah Parsons negotiations

First, and most obviously, Hendrickson’s pay raise of $14 million – giving him a $30 million salary for 2025 – aligns with the market standard for top edge rushers.

The Bengals defensive end’s updated contract is now essentially a one-year, $30 million deal. That $30 million average annual value (AAV) ranks sixth among NFL edge defenders, between the contracts of San Francisco 49ers’ Nick Bosa ($34 million) and Jacksonville Jaguars’ Josh Hines-Allen ($28.25 million).

That value for Hendrickson’s one-year, kick-the-can-down-the-road solution should set the floor for Parsons’ deal in any contract negotiations. At a minimum, he should expect to make $30 million in 2025.

In addition, the unique solution for Hendrickson’s contract could provide some inspiration for the Cowboys and Parsons’ agent, David Mulugheta.

Rather than prolonging a holdout into the start of the regular season, Hendrickson agreed to a short-term solution of a one-year pay raise rather than continuing to push for a multi-year deal with more guaranteed money.

It’s a similar solution that edge rusher Maxx Crosby agreed to with the Las Vegas Raiders last year before he received a three-year extension this offseason. Crosby got $6 million in extra money ahead of the 2024 season. Hendrickson’s reworked deal more than doubles that money and sets a new baseline for a similar solution between Parsons and the Cowboys.

Finally, and also obviously, Hendrickson’s deal with Cincinnati leaves Parsons and the Cowboys as the final major contract holdout without a solution ahead of the regular season.

With both of McLaurin and Hendrickson’s holdouts ending Monday and the start of the regular season 10 days away, pressure is only increasing for Jones and the Cowboys to figure something out with their star outside linebacker.

Shedeur Sanders just moved up the Cleveland Browns’ quarterback depth chart on Monday without doing anything.

According to multiple reports, the Browns traded backup quarterback Kenny Pickett to the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday evening. The news comes two days after Raiders backup Aidan O’Connell fractured his wrist and one day after Cleveland cut quarterback Tyler ‘Snoop’ Huntley.

The Browns’ trade of Pickett trims the team’s quarterbacks room to just three players after months-long speculation that Cleveland might keep four gunslingers on their active roster.

Here’s how the Browns’ quarterbacks depth chart looks now with just three quarterbacks remaining and just one veteran left standing:

Browns QB depth chart

Joe Flacco
Dillon Gabriel
Shedeur Sanders
Deshaun Watson (injured)

Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski named 18-year veteran Joe Flacco the team’s Week 1 starter before Cleveland’s preseason finale against the Rams. Flacco is back in ‘The Land’ for a second stint after he took over late in the 2023 season and led the Browns to a playoff appearance.

Gabriel and Sanders are the two rookies that battled for the Browns’ backup spot on the roster all throughout training camp. Gabriel was a third-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, and Cleveland drafted Sanders two rounds later. Between the two, Gabriel had the more consistent performance in his two preseason outings.

Watson suffered a season-ending Achilles tear in Week 7 last year. In January, the Browns announced that the veteran underwent another surgery to repair the tendon after he had re-ruptured it during his recovery from the initial procedure.

Why isn’t Shedeur Sanders starting for the Browns?

Sanders received more fanfare than any of the participants in Cleveland’s quarterback competition during the 2025 NFL offseason. That said, the fifth-round rookie was always facing an uphill battle to emerge as a Week 1 starter.

Sanders was routinely listed as the No. 4 option on Cleveland’s depth chart during the 2025 NFL offseason. He was behind Flacco, Kenny Pickett and fellow rookie Gabriel, meaning he had to make up ground to get into the starting quarterback race.

However, Sanders was unable to build on that momentum in preseason Week 2. He suffered an oblique injury in practice and was held out of the team’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles. He followed up with a forgettable performance in preseason Week 3 vs. the Rams.

As such, Sanders simply ran out of time to state his case to climb the quarterback depth chart. That prevented him from emerging as a true challenger to Flacco. The Pickett trade should provide him an opportunity to climb the team’s depth chart, but he will still have to leap at least two passers ahead of him in order to get to the starting position.

USA TODAY Sports’ Jacob Camenker contributed to this article.

Wide receiver Amari Cooper is headed to Las Vegas.

The five-time Pro Bowler and the Las Vegas Raiders have agreed to terms on a one-year deal, according to reports. It’s a reunion for the two sides after Cooper played the first four years of his career (2015-2018) with the then-Oakland-based team.

Cooper, 31, is coming off of the least productive season of his career. The 10-year NFL veteran finished the season with 44 catches for 547 receiving yards and four touchdowns, all of which were career lows.

The lack of production from the former No. 4 overall pick can be explained in part by the lack of quality quarterback play during the first half of the season, while he was still on the Browns. The other factor in Cooper’s subpar year could be attributed to the difficulty in learning a new playbook and finding a role in a new offense after Cleveland traded him to the Bills.

Prior to 2024, Cooper had surpassed 1,000 yards in seven of his first nine seasons in the NFL.

He now joins the Raiders once again, where he’ll be Geno Smith’s newest pass-catching weapon, alongside tight end Brock Bowers and wide receiver Jakobi Meyers, who requested a trade earlier on Monday.

Commanders’ longtime captain is once again one of NFL’s top-paid receivers.
McLaurin’s deal is news his offensive mates will benefit from directly.
But the return of ‘Scary Terry’ before Week 1 spotlights issues for Giants, Cowboys.

One of the NFL’s protracted summer hold-ins – unofficial term – is fully (and finally) back into the fold.

Pro Bowl wide receiver and longtime team captain Terry McLaurin agreed to a three-year extension with the Washington Commanders on Monday morning, a person informed of the situation told USA TODAY Sports. The person was granted anonymity because the team has not yet officially announced McLaurin’s new contract.

McLaurin’s pact will pay him up to $96 million, his average annual salary of $32 million pushing him back up the positional pay scale among the league’s other premier pass catchers. McLaurin, who will turn 30 next month, is now tied with Philadelphia’s A.J. Brown as the sixth-best compensated wideout, in terms of yearly average, coming in just behind Pittsburgh’s DK Metcalf and the Jets’ Garrett Wilson, who signed extensions earlier this offseason.

What does the fallout seem to be for McLaurin and others? Here are your winners and losers from his big deal:

WINNERS

Terry McLaurin

He’s merely entering his seventh year with the Washington franchise, but it seems like he’s put in a lifetime of admirable work and already deserves a spot in the organization’s Ring of Fame. A third-round pick in 2019 who was really expected to be a special teams ace when he joined the roster, McLaurin has failed to crack 1,000 receiving yards just once in his career – he had 919 as a rookie – despite a rotisserie of quarterbacks.

Yet his value is hardly illustrated by stats. McLaurin has almost always been available, often as the face of the franchise, despite all the questions he’s fielded over the years – quite a lot of them having nothing to do with football – amid the seedy circus that marked disgraced and departed Daniel Snyder’s ownership tenure. McLaurin unfailingly did what Snyder wouldn’t – represent this franchise proudly and appropriately, even amid the lack of support he experienced in terms of competent infrastructure and teammates who could help him elevate the Washington Football Team and Commanders above the muck while Snyder was there.

Monday’s payday is a just reward for “Scary Terry,” so nicknamed for the immediate impact he made the minute he arrived in Washington.

Jayden Daniels

The NFL’s reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year owes much of his instant success to McLaurin, who led Washington with 82 catches and 1,096 yards last season while scoring a career-high 13 touchdowns. Ever reliant on his main target, Daniels also found McLaurin for 56 first downs. Not having him for any period of time would have been a major blow for Daniels given there’s really no obvious candidate on this roster – recently acquired Deebo Samuel included – ready to backfill such an important role, both in terms of production and on-field steadiness.

Deebo Samuel

Dan Quinn

Washington’s head coach was clearly growing weary answering questions about McLaurin’s negotiations and practice availability as he spent the summer rehabbing an ankle while on the PUP list. Onward, DQ.

Kliff Kingsbury

It hasn’t taken long for the name of Washington’s offensive coordinator to resurface as a strong future head coaching candidate just two seasons removed from his departure from the HC role with the Arizona Cardinals. And while designing an offense devoid of McLaurin might have further spotlit Kingsbury’s creativity and ability, probably better to do the same with all of his top assets available for game plans.

TBD

McLaurin’s contract structure

Notably, the structure and guarantees of McLaurin’s new deal, which will likely run through the 2028 season, are not yet known. Metcalf’s four-year, $132 million deal included $60 million worth of guarantees. Brown, whose pact is designed like McLaurin’s in terms of length and max value, scored an $84 million guarantee – more than a year ago. Wilson’s $90 million worth of guarantees are the fourth most ever reeled in by a receiver, but he’s five years younger than McLaurin and a seemingly safer investment. It will be telling to note how much McLaurin assuredly banks and how much of his money might be for showier reasons.

LOSERS

Brian Robinson

The recent trade of the Commanders’ former starting running back wasn’t necessarily precipitated by McLaurin’s impasse. But there’s no denying that Robinson’s departure freed up about $2 million in cash for the Commanders – per Spotrac, they’re still paying part of Robinson’s 2025 salary – at a time of year when budgets are much tighter than they are during free agency. But McLaurin gets his money … while Robinson gets a backup role with the Niners.

Paulson Adebo and Deonte Banks

If the New York Giants’ starting cornerbacks, who will face the Commanders in Week 1, thought they were going to be guarding Noah Brown and Luke McCaffrey … welp. Adebo and Banks can now count on getting a workout from McLaurin, whom Daniels will doubtless have in his sights early and often as he tries to avoid a NYG pass rush now juiced by Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux and rookie Abdul Carter.

Micah Parsons

With McLaurin and Cincinnati Bengals DE Trey Hendrickson reaching financial resolutions Monday, Parsons is the only prominent player in the league still playing charades as his own contractual charade drags on. How much longer until the Cowboys come to their senses and pay their most important non-quarterback as the Commanders, a team they’re chasing, did? Tick. Tock.

American Madison Keys started her Grand Slam season with a breakthrough at the Australian Open. She ended it with a thud on Monday, Aug. 25 at the 2025 U.S. Open

Keys, the No. 6 seed in the women’s singles draw, suffered a shocking upset at the hands of Renata Zarazua in an opening-round match at Arthur Ashe Stadium that lasted more than three hours. Zarazua lost the first set in a tiebreaker (12-10) and trailed Keys 3-0 in the second set before mounting a dramatic comeback to become the first Mexican women’s tennis player to secure a win over a top-10 opponent at the U.S. Open.

Zarazua, who is listed at just 5-foot-3, entered the event ranked No. 89 in the WTA rankings. The 27-year-old won a tiebreaker in the second set (7-3) and then took the third set, 7-5, after Keys had battled back from being down a break.

Keys was undone by 89 unforced errors and 14 double faults, succumbing to Zarazua’s methodical style over more than three hours on court in her first appearance at the U.S. Open since winning the 2025 Australian Open over No. 1 Arya Sabalenka. Keys has only her first match at the U.S. Open only twice over 14 career appearances at Flushing Meadows, which includes a runner-up finish in 2017 and a run to the semifinals in 2023.

Her final mistake was a forehand into the net that brought Zarazua to tears as she celebrated a win few saw coming. She will face unseeded Diane Parry of France in a second-round match at the U.S. Open on Wednesday, Aug. 27.

“Coming into the match I was like almost crying because I was really nervous,’ Zarazua said in a post-match interview on the court after beating Keys. ‘The crowd made it so chill for me so I was loosening up. Thank you for staying. I know my game is a bit tricky. So sometimes people get a bit bored.’