Sports Tonight: Tom Savage, QB from Cardinal O'Hara, begins battle he might have already lost

Sam Bradford received $26 million before the Eagles dumped him to make way for rookie quarterback Carson Wentz last year.

Former Cardinal O'Hara quarterback Tom Savage will not be as fortunate.

A fourth-round pick out of Pittsburgh in 2014, Savage is still on the rookie contract he signed with the Houston Texans. He has a base salary of $690,000 this season.

It's just a matter of time before Savage is pushed aside.

That process could speed up when Houston opens the preseason against the Carolina Panthers at 7:30 tonight on the NFL Network.

Savage will start, but Houston coach Bill O'Brien said Watson and Brandon Weeden also will play. Typically in the first preseason game, the starting quarterback plays only a few series. That would be a bad indicator for Savage.

Watson, who led Clemson to the 2016 national championship, is a rookie, but Savage has played in only five NFL games and thrown 92 passes with no touchdowns.

Savage doesn't have a body of work that inspires confidence or loyalty.

If Watson plays a large portion of the game and performs well, it won't take Sherlock Holmes to figure out that O'Brien might shift focus to getting him ready to start the regular-season opener on Sept. 10.

When you look in left field tonight and see Daniel Nava, Hyun Soo Kim or Cameron Perkins out there for the Phillies against the Atlanta Braves (7:35; TV: Comcast SportsNet; radio: 94 WIP), imagine that it will soon be power-hitting prospect Rhys Hoskins.

If both Joseph, 26, and Hoskins, 24, can prove to hit 25-30 home runs and have 80-90 RBI in the majors, they would be nice pieces in a rebuilding program.

It's worth finding out.

Jason Kelce has made Pro Bowls as an undersize center, but many Eagles fans still want him replaced. Staff writer Paul Domowitch writes about what Kelce is doing to remain on the Birds' beefed-up offensive line.

A professional athlete's body is his/her bank account. Staff writer Jeff McLane explains how Carson Wentz has incorporated a new stretching routine into his warm-ups to better protect his arm.

The career of golfer Sean O'Hair has not lived up to its early promise. With the 2017 PGA Championship starting Thursday, staff writer Mike Kern talked to the Chadds Ford resident about how 2017 could be his stepping stone for the future.

The Union are on the outside of the MLS playoff chase, in a dogfight with seven teams for one of the final three spots in the Eastern Conference, but staff writer Jonathan Tannenwald warns that you shouldn't expect significant help as the MLS transfer window closes at midnight.

American sprinter Justin Gatlin served a four-year ban for doping but then revitalized his career and won the 100 meters at the 2017 IAAF World Championships. He was vilified. Michael Powell of the New York Times writes that Gatlin is not a villain.

ESPN.com interviews fighters who have boxed and/or sparred with Floyd Mayweather who break down why MMA star Conor McGregor can't beat him.

So much for the purity of athletic competition. Marissa Payne writes in the Washington Post that the Paris Olympic Committee is considering adding "eSports" to the 2024 Games program.

I blame time for the fact that legendary tennis player Althea Gibson did not make the list of the 50 Greatest Black Athletes of All-Time, as composed by The Undefeated and SurveyMonkey.

People forget.

Gibson was the first person of color to win a Grand Slam tennis event (1956 French Open); the first to win Wimbledon (1957); the first to be invited to play in the United States National Championships (U.S. Open), in 1950; and first to win it (1957).

With her five Grand Slam titles, Gibson trails just Serena Williams (23), Evonne Goolagong (7) and Venus Williams (7) among black tennis players.

In 1964, at 37, Gibson became the first African-American on the LPGA Tour.

Gibson is the first African-American inducted in the International Tennis Hall of Fame and one of the six inaugural members of the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame.

Three tennis players — the Williams sisters and Arthur Ashe — made the Top 50. There should have been four.

Baseball
Red Sox at Rays, 7 p.m. (ESPN)
Phillies at Braves, 7:30 p.m. (CSN; WIP-FM 94.1, WNPV-AM 1440)
Dodgers at Diamondbacks (joined in progress), 10 p.m. (MLB Network)

NFL Preseason
Texans at Panthers, 7:30 p.m. (NFL Network)

Golf
U.S. Women's Amateur Chamionship, 6 p.m. (FS1)

Little League Baseball
Southwest regional, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)

Minor League Baseball
Norfolk at Lehigh Valley, 7:05 p.m.