EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. – The Minnesota Vikings signed safety Harrison Smith to a contract extension.
Terms were not disclosed Monday.
In his first four seasons, Smith has piled up 402 tackles along with 12 interceptions and 5.5 sacks. He has started 52 of his 53 regular-season games and was an injury-replacement selection for the Pro Bowl last season. The Notre Dame standout also set a team record in 2015 by returning four interceptions for touchdowns.
Other 2012 rookies Jarius Wright, Rhett Ellison, Blair Walsh and Audie Cole have also been re-signed by the Vikings.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. – Cornerback Aqib Talib was released from a Dallas hospital on Monday and is expected to rejoin the Denver Broncos at their minicamp this week.
Talib missed the Super Bowl champions’ trip to the White House on Monday after getting shot at a Dallas nightclub last weekend. Dallas police are investigating the shooting.
Last week, Talib said he was eager to meet President Barack Obama and had purchased a custom-made suit for the occasion.
Talib was shot in his lower right leg. Although he didn’t require surgery, it’s unclear when he’ll return to the field.
The three-time Pro Bowler will make $8.5 million in 2016, his third season in Denver.
The Broncos begin their mandatory three-day minicamp Tuesday.
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. – The Buffalo Bills signed their top draft pick, defensive end Shaq Lawson, to a four-year, $10.3 million contract.
The signing was announced by the team Monday, while a person familiar with the deal provided the contract’s value to the Associated Press. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the Bills did not reveal that figure.
The person said the entire contract is guaranteed, and includes a $5.7 million signing bonus.
Lawson was drafted 19th overall out of Clemson and was one of college football’s top pass-rushers last year. He was a consensus All-American, and led the nation with 25 tackles for a loss and had 12 sacks.
Lawson won’t be ready for start of the season after having surgery last month to repair a shoulder injury.
ST. LOUIS – The St. Louis Cardinals optioned second baseman Kolten Wong to Triple-A Memphis to open a spot for infielder Jhonny Peralta, set to come off the 15-day disabled list on Tuesday.
The 25-year-old Wong is batting .222 in 49 games with 35 starts. He signed a five year, $25 million contract extension this spring but has been the odd man out much of this season. Matt Carpenter is moving to second base and Peralta will be the primary third baseman, making room for Cuban rookie shortstop Aledmys Diaz.
Wong was a first-round draft pick in 2011. He batted .262 with 11 homers and 61 RBI last season and had advocated for the leadoff spot this season, but has just one homer and five RBI this year.
Peralta had surgery to repair ligament damage to his left thumb in March.
STUTTGART, Germany – Seven-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer said he is healthy again and looking forward to the grass-court season.
Federer is still without a title this year and has been battling injuries. He underwent meniscus surgery after losing the Australian Open final to Novak Djokovic and then missed the French Open because of a back injury. The top-ranked Djokovic won his first French Open title on Sunday to complete a career Grand Slam.
Federer said he has had no setbacks in the last three weeks, and “now I am feeling really well.”
The 17-time Grand Slam champion is the top-seeded player in the inaugural edition of the Mercedes Cup on grass and has a bye into the second round.
Federer said Djokovic’s win in Paris was “super for tennis, world class.”
STUTTGART, Germany – Sam Groth of Australia fired 15 aces to overcome Illya Marchenko of Ukraine, 7-5, 6-4, in the opening round of the Mercedes Cup on Monday.
Marchenko beat Groth in their only previous match in February on a Memphis hard court, but with Stuttgart switching its courts from clay to grass, Groth got the upper hand.
Also, local wild card Michael Berrer came from behind to beat Malek Jaziri of Tunisia, 6-7 (7), 6-2, 6-4.
Roger Federer is the top seed in the Wimbledon tuneup, and has a bye into the second round. Federer is coming back from a back injury that forced him to skip the French Open.
NEW YORK – Tiger Woods is getting back to work – as an author.
Woods is writing his first book since 2001, which is due out next spring. The book does not have a title yet, but it will be about his historic victory in the 1997 Masters.
It is scheduled to be released in hardcover, as an e-book and in audio editions in March, a month before the 20th anniversary of that watershed moment in golf.
Woods is writing the book with Canadian golf writer Lorne Rubenstein. Grand Central Publishing acquired the rights to it.
Woods said his 12-shot victory that made him the first player of black heritage to win a major came in one of the most important tournaments in his life.
VIRGINIA WATER, England – Ian Poulter was appointed a vice captain of Europe’s Ryder Cup team after a foot injury ended his chances of playing.
Facing four months on the sidelines, Poulter joins Thomas Bjorn, Paul Lawrie and Padraig Harrington in assisting captain Darren Clarke.
The Ryder Cup will be played from Sept. 30-Oct. 2 at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn.
Poulter said “when it became clear, given my current foot condition, that I would not be in a position to try and qualify for the team for a sixth time this year or indeed be able to justify a wild-card pick, I was truly honored and delighted to be asked by Darren to be a vice captain.”
The 40-year-old Poulter has won the Ryder Cup in four of his five playing appearances.
ASTANA, Kazakhstan – Kazakhstan said its athletes recorded five positives in retests of doping samples from the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.
Kazakhstan’s national Olympic committee said five “A” samples tested positive and that it has sent representatives to Switzerland to attend analysis of the “B” samples.
The athletes were not named and it was not immediately clear in which events they competed.
The Central Asian nation has faced repeated doping scandals in recent years, particularly in weightlifting and cycling.
The IOC is retesting samples from the Beijing and London Olympics to catch cheats who might be competing in Rio de Janeiro. So far, 55 positives have been recorded – 32 from Beijing and 23 from London.
Separately, the Russian Olympic Committee said two of its athletes’ “B” samples came back negative. They are race walker Denis Nizhegorodov and rower Alexander Kornilov.
SAINT-VULBAS, France – Frenchman Nacer Bouhanni claimed the first stage of the Criterium du Dauphine Libere after edging Belgium’s Jens Debusschere in a sprint finish on Monday.
Two-time Tour de France champion Alberto Contador kept the leader’s jersey he seized in Sunday’s time-trial prologue.
It was Bouhanni’s fourth World Tour stage win this season following successes at Paris-Nice and the Volta Catalunya.
Bouhanni, also an amateur boxer, dedicated his win to Muhammad Ali.
Sam Bennett of Ireland finished third in the sprint.
Contador has a six-second lead over his former teammate Richie Porte of Australia overall. Reigning Tour de France champion Chris Froome is in third place, 13 seconds back.
The Dauphine is a traditional warmup for the Tour, which starts on July 2 at Mont-Saint-Michel.