CLEVELAND >> Joe Flacco is heading back to Cleveland.

The veteran NFL quarterback agreed to terms with the Browns on a one-year deal on Friday. Flacco will have a base salary of $4 million but can earn more with incentives.

He won the league’s Comeback Player of the Year award in 2023 after leading an inspiring late-season surge that carried the Browns to the playoffs for only the second time since their return in 1999.

Flacco, 40, spent last season in Indianapolis, throwing for 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions in eight games, including a 2-4 mark as a starter.

The Browns are in flux at quarterback with Deshaun Watson potentially missing the entire season as he recovers from a ruptured Achilles tendon suffered in January, just three months after he initially injured the tendon against Cincinnati.

Cleveland acquired former Pittsburgh Steelers first-round draft pick Kenny Pickett in a trade with Philadelphia. Pickett started one game last season for the Eagles while backing up Jalen Hurts. He was 14-10 as a starter in two years with the Steelers.

Soccer

Salah set to complete decade-long stay at Liverpool >> Mohamed Salah’s trophy-laden spell with Liverpool is set to extend to a decade after the prolific Egypt forward signed a new contract with the Premier League leader, ending months of uncertainty over his future.

The 32-year-old Salah was one of three key senior players — with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk — who were due to be out of contract at the end of this season.

He is the first to extend his stay, having already established himself as a club great with 243 goals in 394 appearances, placing him third in the list of Liverpool’s all-time top scorers.

Liverpool didn’t disclose the length of Salah’s new deal but manager Arne Slot did, saying in a news conference it was a two-year deal.

USWNT will face Jamaica instead of China >> The U.S. women will play Jamaica instead of China on June 3 in St. Louis.

The Americans will still host China as planned in a friendly on May 31 in St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S. Soccer announced.

China had previously announced it would play both matches during the international window, but later informed U.S. Soccer that it could only play the first match.

The match against Jamaica will be the first meeting between the two teams since the CONCACAF women’s Gold Cup in 2022.

College football

Kent State fires football coach >> Kent State fired coach Kenni Burns following an investigation related to his two-year tenure.

Athletic director Randale Richmond said in a statement that offensive coordinator Mark Carney would serve as the interim coach for the upcoming season with a national search taking place at the end of the year.

Kent State did not provide details on why Burns was fired.

Burns, who had a 1-23 record, was put on administrative leave with pay on March 27, a couple of days before the Golden Flashes began spring practices. Kent State was 0-12 last season, the fifth time in school history they had gone winless.

Baseball

Twins place pitcher Lopez on IL >> The Minnesota Twins placed pitcher Pablo López on the 15-day injured list with a strained right hamstring.

The move is retroactive to Wednesday, a day after López was removed from his start against Kansas City following 4 2/3 innings because of the injury. López is 1-1 with a 1.62 ERA in three starts this season.

Schumaker, Pettitte, Holliday to be US coaches >> Former Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker will be the U.S. bench coach and former New York Yankees star Andy Pettitte will be pitching coach for manager Mark DeRosa at next year’s World Baseball Classic.

Matt Holliday, a seven-time All-Star and the father of Baltimore infielder Jackson Holliday, will be hitting coach, USA Baseball said.

Dino Ebel returns from DeRosa’s 2023 staff as third base coach and George Lombard will be first base coach.

DeRosa’s staff also includes former major league managers Fredi González (assistant manager) and David Ross (bullpen coach) along with Brian McCann and Michael Young as assistant managers.

The tournament runs from March 5-17 with games played in Houston, Miami, Tokyo and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Pro basketball

Memphis’ Wells expected to miss season >> Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaylen Wells is expected to miss the rest of the season after breaking his right wrist and sustaining a concussion and facial laceration in a hard fall Tuesday against the Charlotte Hornets.

Wells is the team’s top perimeter defender and one of the league’s top rookies. He averages 10.4 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. The team expects him to make a full recovery.

Wells caught an outlet pass from Ja Morant in the second quarter against the Hornets and was going up for the jam when Charlotte’s KJ Simpson caught up and inadvertently undercut him. Wells lost his balance and landed awkwardly on his side as his head hit the court near the baseline.

Tennis

Alcaraz overcomes Fils >> Carlos Alcaraz won from behind against Arthur Fils while defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas was bundled out in the Monte Carlo Masters quarterfinals.

World No. 3 Alcaraz was five points from defeat in the second set, and 3-1 down in the deciding set, but pulled through 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 after 2 1/2 hours.

Tsitsipas couldn’t understand why it all went wrong against Lorenzo Musetti. The Monte Carlo champion in 2021, 2022 and 2024 had a perfect 5-0 record against Musetti and took their first set 6-1.

But from that point Tsitsipas’ serve evaporated. He made less than half of his first serves, only eight of 28 in the last set. One of his seven double faults put him down 4-3 in the last set. Musetti won the last two sets 6-3, 6-4.

Hockey

U.S. blanks the Czechs at women’s worlds >> The United States proved its favorite status by shutting out host the Czech Republic 4-0 at the women’s ice hockey world championship.

Abbey Murphy led with two goals, Alex Carpenter had a goal and an assist, and captain Hilary Knight also scored to claim their second straight win in Group A.