OWINGS MILLS, Md. >> Five years after he fell to the end of the first round, draft day was a huge payday for Lamar Jackson.

The Baltimore Ravens agreed in principle with Jackson on a five-year deal Thursday, making their star quarterback the highest-paid player in NFL history.

The Ravens and Jackson agreed on a $260 million, five-year deal with $185 million in guaranteed money, a person familiar with the terms told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the contract hadn’t been signed.

The deal keeps the 2019 NFL MVP in Baltimore for the foreseeable future and ends a contract negotiation saga that was dominating the team’s offseason. Jackson’s contract tops the $255 million, five-year deal the Philadelphia Eagles gave Jalen Hurts earlier this month. Hurts got $179.3 million in guarantees.

Deshaun Watson still has the biggest guaranteed contract in NFL history. The Cleveland Browns gave Watson a five-year, fully guaranteed $230 million extension last year to waive his no-trade clause and agree to join the team.

The Ravens announced the deal hours before the first round of the NFL draft, and it’s fair to say that in Baltimore at least, this news will overshadow whoever the team might take in the first round.

“Very excited — it was a long, long process,” general manager Eric DeCosta said. “But family is never easy. We’re thrilled that we were able to get this done.”

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Inaugural 12-team CFP to avoid NFL playoffs

The first-round games of the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff will be played on Friday night and Saturday of the third week of December 2024, and the semifinals will be played in early January on weeknights to avoid conflicting with the NFL playoffs.

CFP executive director Bill Hancock confirmed on Thursday a schedule that had already become apparent when the decision to expand was finalized in December. The 10 conference commissioners who make up the College Football Playoff management committee held their spring meetings in Dallas this week.

The upcoming season will be the last in which the College Football Playoff uses a four-team format.

The College Football Playoff expands to 12 teams starting with the 2024 season. The first-round games will match teams seeded 5-12 and be played on campus sites, with the best seeds hosting.

COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL

Nebraska sells 83K tickets for outdoor event

Nebraska’s goal was to set the NCAA volleyball attendance record when it announced the “Volleyball Day in Nebraska” outdoor event at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln this summer.

With almost 83,000 tickets sold for the Aug. 30 doubleheader, Nebraska now hopes to set the overall one-day U.S. women’s sports attendance record of more than 90,000.

The event starts with a Division II exhibition between Wayne State and Nebraska-Kearney and will be followed by a regular-season match between the Cornhuskers and Omaha.

The athletics department announced Thursday that 82,900 tickets have been sold since sales started Tuesday. That number doesn’t include field-level seating or indoor club seating.

“Nebraska fans never cease to amaze me,” athletics director Trev Alberts said in a statement. “We knew the interest in this match would be extremely high, but to sell out Memorial Stadium is truly remarkable.”

An athletics department spokesman said a maximum capacity for the event hasn’t been determined. At least 4,000 field-level seats will go to students at Memorial Stadium, which has a capacity of about 85,000.

The NCAA volleyball record for any match is 18,755, set when Nebraska played Wisconsin in the 2021 national championship match indoors in Columbus, Ohio. The regular-season record is 16,833, set when Wisconsin hosted Florida last September.

Smotherman posts 63 for 1-shot lead in Mexico

VALLARTA, Mexico >> Austin Smotherman already has his name on the Mexico Open trophy. He finished his round Thursday as though he’d love to see it on there again, closing with four straight birdies for an 8-under 63 and a one-shot lead over Erik van Rooyen and Tano Goya.

Masters champion Jon Rahm, who won the Mexico Open at Vidanta for his only PGA Tour title a year ago, had five birdies on his last 11 holes to overcome a sluggish start for a 67.

Smotherman is winless on the PGA Tour. He won the Mexico Open in 2018 on a different golf course — it was held in Tijuana that year — and when it was part of the PGA Tour Latinoamerica schedule.

Even so, the Mexico Open dates to 1944. His name is on the trophy with Ben Crenshaw, Billy Casper, Lee Trevino, Bobby Locke and Roberto De Vicenzo.

Briefly

COLLEGE FOOTBALL >> Notre Dame transfer quarterback Tyler Buchner committed on Thursday to Alabama, where he will be reunited with former Fighting Irish offensive coordinator Tommy Rees.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL >> Louisville transfer Hailey Van Lith is heading to reigning national champion LSU. The sought-after guard posted an image of herself wearing an LSU uniform in front of an image of the Tiger mascot on social media Thursday.

NFL >> A person familiar with the situation says Jacksonville Jaguars left tackle Cam Robinson is facing a multigame suspension for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs.

NFL >> The Jacksonville Jaguars believe nose tackle DaVon Hamilton’s best season is just the beginning. Hamilton signed a three-year contract extension Thursday, a clear indication how general manager Trent Baalke and coach Doug Pederson feel about the third-round pick entering his fourth season.

UFC >> Mixed martial arts fighter Nate Diaz turned himself in to police in New Orleans on Thursday to face a battery charge arising from a weekend street brawl.

— From news services