NFL: Redskins give Coach Jay Gruden an extension

Amid an off-season of potential upheaval, the Washington Redskins have made an investment in continuity by signing Coach Jay Gruden to a multiyear contract extension.

Gruden was going into the fourth year of a five-year contract. The team announced the extension after Gruden and other team officials returned from the NFL combine in Indianapolis.

The 50-year-old Gruden is the first coach to have his contract extended by Dan Snyder, who has owned the team for 18 years. Gruden is the eighth head coach over that time.

The Redskins missed the playoffs last season after losing in the NFC wild-card game in 2015. They’re 21-26-1 in three seasons under Gruden.

Extending Gruden’s contract comes during an uncertain off-season for the Redskins, who could lose starting receivers DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon in free agency and have placed the franchise tag on quarterback Kirk Cousins for the second consecutive year.

Etc.

The San Francisco 49ers told receiver Torrey Smith that they plan to release him before the start of the league year Thursday, just two years after giving him a big free-agent contract. A person with direct knowledge of the decision confirmed the move on condition of anonymity because the 49ers hadn’t formally announced a decision to part ways with Smith. Smith later thanked the 49ers on his Instagram account for his time in San Francisco.

The 49ers won only seven games in Smith’s two seasons in San Francisco after he signed a five-year, $40-million contract with $22 million guaranteed. He caught 53 passes for 930 yards and seven touchdowns in two seasons with the 49ers but never became the deep threat that he was with the Ravens when he helped Baltimore beat San Francisco in the Super Bowl following the 2012 season.

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Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive end William Gholston signed a five-year contract extension rather than test his worth in free agency. The versatile fifth-year pro who started 25 games over the last two seasons could earn an average of more than $5 million per year under the terms of a deal Gholston said he “couldn’t say no to.”

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Minnesota Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway is retiring. The 34-year-old Greenway played 11 seasons and appeared in 156 career games with 144 starts for Minnesota.

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Mickey Marvin, a starting offensive lineman for the Los Angeles Raiders’ team that won Super Bowl XVIII, died in Hendersonville, N.C., at the age of 61. He had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Marvin was drafted in the fourth round by the Oakland Raiders in 1977, started at right guard from 1978-86 and was part of Super Bowl-winning teams in the 1980 (Oakland) and 1983 (Los Angeles) seasons.