Off the wire

FOOTBALL Bengals re-sign Smith

The Cincinnati Bengals reached agreement with right tackle Andre Smith on a new contract Friday night, the final step toward bringing back their offense intact from last season. Smith had been an unrestricted free agent. He says the team changed its offer, and he decided it was time to make a decision. He accepted a three-year deal. Smith was a first round pick in 2009. He was hurt his first two seasons, but lost a lot of weight and became a steady starter the last two years.

The place-kicker for MississippiValley State was killed in an accident near Itta Bena, Miss. Highway Patrol spokesman Sgt. Ben Williams says Kevin Monzon of Crystal Springs, Miss., died after the vehicle he was driving ran off U.S. 82 just east of Itta Bena and rolled over about 8 p.m. Thursday. An investigation continues. Williams and Coach Karl Morgan say Marcus Thompson, a junior outside linebacker from Houston, was taken to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. His condition was not immediately known. Two other football players who were riding in the car were not seriously injured. Monzon, a sophomore, walked onto the team in 2012 and took over the bulk of the place-kicking duties by the second game of the season.

Three Pittsburgh football players have been suspended by Coach Paul Chryst after their house was raided following a drug sting. Police say junior tight end Drew Carswell, defensive tackle Khaynin Mosley-Smith and junior defensive back Eric Williams each will be charged with possession of drug paraphernalia. The players’ home was raided early Friday morning. Police say an undercover agent purchased several bags of heroin from another man, Darnell Reed-Young, at the players’ residence. Officers then obtained a search warrant and discovered drug packaging materials in several rooms and a scale with white residue in Carswell’s bedroom. All three players will be charged by summons.

BASKETBALL King gets extension

Coming off their first season in Brooklyn in which the franchise ended a six-year playoff drought, the Nets have signed General Manager Billy King to a contract extension. King, hired by the Nets in 2010, put together a team that went 49-33 in its first season after moving from New Jersey, matching the second-best record in franchise history. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Before joining the Nets, King spent 10 years with Philadelphia, serving as the team’s president from 2003-2007.

HOCKEY

Atkinson signs extension

The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed right wing Cam Atkinson to a two-year contract extension through the 2014-2015 season. Atkinson, who would have been a restricted free agent next season, will receive $2.3 million over the term of the contract. The 23-year-old native of Riverside, Conn., has eight goals and eight assists in 42 games this season. Selected by Columbus with its eighth pick, 157th overall, at the 2008 draft, the 5-foot-7, 172-pounder out of Boston College has 15 goals and 15 assists in 61 career games.

TENNIS Nadal wins 2 matches

Seven-time winner Rafael Nadal won back-to-back matches to advance to the semifinals of the Barcelona (Spain) Open on Friday. After rain forced several third-round matches to be pushed back, Nadal started the day by beating Benoit Paire of France 7-6 (2), 6-2. The fifth-ranked Spaniard then defeated Albert Ramos 6-3, 6-0 after his over matched opponent had downed Kei Nishikori of Japan 6-4, 7-6 (4) earlier in the day. Nadal has won 37 consecutive matches on the red clay at Real Club de Tenis and is on course to make his sixth consecutive final this year after returning from a long injury layoff. He will face Milos Raonic today after the Canadian outlasted Tommy Robredo 6-7 (5), 6-3, 7-6 (2). Fourth-seeded Nicolas Almagro will play Philipp Kohlschreiber in the other semifinal.

Top-seeded Maria Sharapova outlasted Ana Ivanovic 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 Friday to advance to the semifinals of the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany. Sharapova, the defending champion, will next play third-seeded Angelique Kerber, who defeated Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan 6-3, 7-6 (2) to reach her third semifinal of the season. Bethanie Mattek-Sands, an American qualifier, beat Sabine Lisicki of Germany 6-4, 6-2, a day after upsetting fourth-seeded Sara Errani in a match that lasted past 1:30 a.m. The American next goes against second-seeded Li Na of China, who defeated fifth-seeded Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5.

FOOTBALL Packers sign Rodgers to $110 million extension

GREEN BAY, Wis. - The Green Bay Packers gave Aaron Rodgers his opportunity when 23 other teams passed.

On another late April weekend with the NFL Draft unfolding anew, there was Rodgers again, expressing his appreciation of the Packers for their latest sign of faith.

The Packers signed their franchise quarterback Friday to a five-year contract extension through the 2019 season, eight years after they stopped his slide down the draft board and took him with the 24th pick in the first round. The deal, according to a person with knowledge of the contract who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team has not released the details, is worth as much as $110 million, with $40 million guaranteed.

Rodgers had two seasons remaining on his current deal for a total of roughly $20 million. So this is essentially a seven-year contract, right there with the $120.6 million that the Baltimore Ravens gave quarterback Joe Flacco last month over six years.

“I’m excited to know my future is here and I’ll be here for a lot longer,” Rodgers said inside the locker room at Lambeau Field.

Locking up Rodgers was a priority for the Packers, who also reached a long-term extension with linebacker Clay Matthews this month worth as much as $66 million over five years. The Packers are 53-27 in five years with Rodgers as the starter, and he led them to the Super Bowl title following the 2010 season.

President Mark Murphy said leaving enough space under the salary cap to consistently field a competitive team around Rodgers for the life of his deal was “crucial.” He also acknowledged that the Packers not only gave Rodgers a market-rate contract but set a new market in the process.

“But he’s a pretty good quarterback, too,” Murphy said, laughing.

Rodgers, the longest-tenured Packers player, the only one still on the roster from that 4-12 team in 2005, said he’s confident the front office will continue to be able to build a winner around him.

“I like where we’re at. Obviously, there were some discussions about not doing a lot in free agency,” Rodgers said. “Like I said, this seems to be the Packer way where you draft a guy in your system and you pay them.”

Rodgers has thrown for 21,661 yards and 171 touchdowns, and he has had a quarterback rating of 101.2 or better in all but one season as a starter. His quarterback rating of 122.5 in 2011 is an NFL record.

The former standout at Cal was expected to be taken early in the first round in 2005, but he soon found himself alone in the green room. Rodgers acknowledged that prove-the-doubters wrong attitude he’s used to his benefit throughout his career since that day he was ignored by so many in the draft.

“I have a good memory, and I’m driven to be the best,” Rodgers said. “Obviously, there’s a couple less critics out there now, but I still put a lot of pressure on myself to achieve the goals I set for myself here and enjoy trying to meet the challenge that those goals bring and also opposing teams bring.”