The Sports Xchange

Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Marcell Dareus won’t be in uniform this week, but the 24-year-old won’t be leaving the team any time soon.

Dareus sealed his future in Buffalo on Thursday, signing a six-year contract extension that includes $60 million guaranteed. The total value of the deal, including all incentives, could hit $108 million, making Dareus one of the highest-paid players in the NFL. He’s the only non-quarterback to receive $60 in guaranteed money.

“Marcell Dareus is a tremendous player and we feel he has a great opportunity to reach his potential as a player and leader here with the Buffalo Bills,” general manager Doug Whaley said. “Throughout this process, we wanted Marcell to remain a Buffalo Bill for the long-term and he made it clear to us that he wanted to continue his career in Buffalo.”

In four seasons with the Bills, Dareus has started 60 of 63 games and has 202 career tackles and 28 1/2 sacks. Last year, Dareus finished with 49 tackles and a career-best 10 sacks in 15 games.

—A new five-year, $62.5 million contract with the Carolina Panthers will make Luke Kuechly the highest-paid linebacker in NFL history.

NFL Network first reported the deal, which averages $12.4 million per season.

Kuechly, 24, has 473 tackles in three seasons since he was drafted ninth overall in the 2012 draft. He was the 2012 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year and in 2013 was the youngest player to win the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award.

—The New York Giants and quarterback Eli Manning reportedly are close to a four-year, $84 million contract extension.

Sources told Ian Rapoport of NFL Media on Thursday that the sides are working out final details and could sign the deal Friday.

Manning, 34, is in the final year of his second NFL contract. Without a new contract, his franchise tag number next season would be about $24 million. But it looks like Manning will fellow 2004 first-rounders Ben Roethlisberger and Philip Rivers, along with Cam Newton and Russell Wilson, as quarterbacks who this year have signed deals worth around $21 million per season.

—The Indianapolis Colts and left tackle Anthony Castonzo reportedly are finalizing a four-year extension worth $42 million.

Castonzo will receive $35 million over the first three years of the deal, NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport reported Thursday.

Castonzo, the Colts’ first-round pick in 2011, has started 60 games in his first four seasons. He was the only Colts offensive lineman to start every game last season.

—A.J. Green is the next star wide receiver in line for a big contract, and talks between the Cincinnati Bengals and Green reportedly have intensified to the point that a deal might be done before the team travels to Oakland for the season opener.

On Thursday, NFL Network and ESPN.com both reported the sides were nearing agreement. ESPN.com said a deal could be done before the Bengals fly to Oakland on Friday.

Green, 27, is looking for a better deal than the six-year, $71.25 million contract the Atlanta Falcons gave receiver Julio Jones, according to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports.

—Linebacker IK Enemkpali reportedly is facing a four-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy.

The suspension, reported Thursday by The Associated Press, is punishment for Enemkpali punching and breaking the jaw of New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith. The ban, which covers the first four games of the season, is expected to be announced by the NFL on Friday.

Enemkpali was released by the Jets after decking Smith over a $600 debt Enemkpali said Smith owed as travel reimbursement to a football camp. Enemkpali signed with the Buffalo Bills the next day, reuniting with coach Rex Ryan, who coached the Jets last season when Enemkpali was drafted in the sixth round. The Bills cut Enemkpali last weekend but re-signed him to the practice squad.

—The Minnesota Vikings signed receiver Jarius Wright to a four-year contract extension worth $14.8 million, including $7 million guaranteed, according to NFL Network.

Wright set career highs of 42 receptions and 588 yards in 2014. The fourth-round pick in the 2012 NFL Draft has 90 receptions for 1,332 yards and seven touchdowns in his three seasons with the Vikings.

“Jarius has been a key member of our offense since we drafted him in 2012 and we felt it was necessary to secure his future with our organization,” Minnesota general manager Rick Spielman said in a statement. “His commitment to this team, hard work and leadership in the WR room are several of the intangibles that he brings to our club on a daily basis and we’re excited for his future with the Vikings.”

—Minnesota coach Mike Zimmer said there are no restrictions for running back Adrian Peterson in Week 1 and beyond.

Peterson will take the field for the first time since last September on Monday night at San Francisco in the final game of the opening week schedule.

Peterson, 30, was held out of preseason games to protect him from senseless injury in meaningless games.

—Vikings center John Sullivan was placed on injured reserve-designated to return after surgery to remove a herniated disk in his back.

Sullivan underwent the lumbar microdiscectomy on Wednesday.

The move pushes Joe Berger into the starting lineup. The 33-year-old entered the NFL as a sixth-round pick in 2005 with the Carolina Panthers and has also played for the Miami Dolphins and Dallas Cowboys.

The Vikings have lost two of their best offensive linemen to injuries this summer, including right tackle Phil Loadholt to injured reserve.

—The Cleveland Browns released wide receiver Terrelle Pryor on Thursday as they claimed running back Robert Turbin off waivers from the Seattle Seahawks.

Turbin had been the No. 2 running back during the Seahawks’ back-to-back Super Bowl seasons in 2013 and 2014. He suffered a high ankle sprain late in the preseason and was waived off injured reserve with a settlement on Wednesday. He is expected to be healthy in about a month.

Pryor, who had been making the transition from quarterback to receiver, had made the initial cut to 53 players with the Browns. This is the fifth time in the past 17 months that Pryor has been released by an NFL team.

—Robert Griffin III will not begin the season as the Washington Redskins’ backup quarterback.

Coach Jay Gruden said Colt McCoy is the backup “right now” and the organization is still waiting for a report from a league neurologist on Griffin’s condition.

Griffin has reportedly undergone three neurological evaluations since suffering a concussion in a preseason game against the Detroit Lions on Aug. 20.

Kirk Cousins will start when the Redskins open the season on Sunday against the Miami Dolphins.

—Houston Texans running back Arian Foster plans to be patient and says he wants to be close to fully recovered before returning from a groin injury.

Foster suffered a torn groin on Aug. 3 and underwent surgery four days later. He missed all four preseason games and will sit out the season opener Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Foster, 29, says he won’t rush back from the injury as there is a risk of reinjuring the groin if he isn’t close to 100 percent.

—Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz did not practice Thursday and seems unlikely to play in the season opener Sunday night, but coach Tom Coughlin refused to rule him out.

Cruz hasn’t practiced in three weeks as he recovers from a calf injury. Thursday was the final full workout before the Giants play the Cowboys in Dallas on Sunday.

The calf strain is unrelated to the torn patellar tendon that ended Cruz’s 2014 season in October.

—A deadline imposed by the city of San Diego for the Chargers to make a deal for a new stadium was set for Friday. Both sides admit no deal will be in place Friday, and that could keep the issue off the ballot in January.

“Unfortunately, the city of San Diego made the fateful decisions to waste the first five months of 2015 on another task force and then to attempt to comply with California’s environmental laws with an unprecedented, legally flawed process,” Chargers stadium project spokesperson Mark Fabiani told USA Today. “These mistaken decisions mean that there could not be a public vote before June 2016 at the earliest. In the meantime the NFL’s owners will be making decisions regarding the Los Angeles market, and the Chargers have said from the start that we will respect whatever choices the ownership makes.”

The Chargers play in the NFL’s oldest stadium. Now named Qualcomm Stadium, the structure opened in 1967. Taxpayers are not in agreement on whether to contribute to a new building.

—The Arizona Cardinals signed tight end Joseph Fauria to replace the injured Ifeanyi Momah.

Momah has a torn meniscus in his knee and was to undergo surgery on Thursday, Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports reported. The team placed Momah on injured reserve.

With Jermaine Gresham and Troy Niklas both banged up, the team brought in Fauria, as first reported by NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport. Fauria, 25, was released by the Detroit Lions last Saturday.

—The Chargers brought back tight end John Phillips.

The seventh-year veteran had been released last weekend when the team reduced its roster to 53 players. Over the last two seasons, Phillips has played in 31 games for the Chargers, starting seven.

To make room for Phillips, the Chargers waived rookie tackle Tyreek Burwell.

—The Seahawks are 9-2 favorites to reach Super Bowl 50 after consecutive appearances in the NFL’s championship game.

Seattle is ahead of the Green Bay Packers (6-1), Indianapolis Colts (8-1), Philadelphia Eagles (8-1) and New England Patriots (8-1).

The Denver Broncos are 9-1 and the Dallas Cowboys (14-1) and Baltimore Ravens (16-1) are the only other teams with better than 20-1 odds.

The worst odds belong to the Jacksonville Jaguars (300-1), with the Tennessee Titans (200-1) just ahead.