Redskins sign backup quarterback Colt McCoy to extension

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The Washington Redskins have signed backup quarterback Colt McCoy to an extension that keeps him under contract through the 2019 season.

The team announced the deal Friday. NFL Network reported Thursday the contract could be worth up to $7 million.

McCoy is entering his fifth season with Washington, all under coach Jay Gruden, who called the 31-year-old a “great player to have around.” Gruden says if anything happens to new quarterback Alex Smith, the team is in good hands with McCoy.

Drafted in the third round out of Texas by Cleveland in 2010, McCoy started 21 games for the Browns and appeared in three more. He started four games for the Redskins in 2014.

Rookie Sam Darnold a holdout as Jets camp opens

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — There was no sign of Sam Darnold as the New York Jets opened training camp.

The No. 3 overall pick in the NFL draft officially became a contract holdout when the team began its first practice of the summer Friday without its prized rookie quarterback.

Darnold joins Chicago linebacker Roquan Smith, the No. 8 choice, as the only unsigned picks from the entire draft.

Under the NFL’s labor agreement, contract holdouts are uncommon because deals are slotted based on draft position. Darnold will receive a four-year, fully guaranteed contract worth $30.247 million, including a $20 million signing bonus.

The dispute seems to hang on contract language. If a player is cut during his rookie contract, offset language provides the team with financial protection. Not having offset language allows a player to receive his salary from the team that cut him, as well as get paid by another team that signs him.

Offset language is common in rookie deals. Both Baker Mayfield, the No. 1 overall pick by Cleveland, and Josh Allen, seventh overall by Buffalo — the quarterbacks drafted before and after Darnold — have offsets in their contracts. In fact, Allen and Darnold share the same agent in Jimmy Sexton.

The 21-year-old Darnold is expected to compete for the Jets’ starting job with 39-year-old Josh McCown, of Jacksonville, the incumbent who is coming off the best season of his career, and Teddy Bridgewater, working his way back from a severe knee injury nearly two years ago.