In Brief

Peyton Manning's tour of potential NFL destinations is making a stop in the desert.

A person familiar with Manning's location said the free-agent quarterback flew to Arizona on Saturday night for meetings with the Cardinals.

The Arizona Republic was the first to report that the four-time Most Valuable Player had arrived. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

The former Indianapolis Colts star met with the Denver Broncos on Friday night at the team's headquarters. He is expected to meet with Cardinals coaches and team officials today. After Arizona, Manning reportedly is going to Florida to meet with the Miami Dolphins.

The Manning stakeout in Arizona began earlier Saturday, but there was no sign of him.

The Cardinals' facility was a beehive of activity as the setting for Kurt Warner's annual "Ultimate Football Experience," a fundraiser for his First Things First foundation that features current and past football stars. Among them was Cardinals star wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, who said he knew nothing of any contact the team might have made with Manning.

"I haven't heard anything," he said. "I'd like to feel like if he was going to be here I would probably hear something from somebody."

The team already has invested millions in quarterback Kevin Kolb and is scheduled to pay him $7 million if he is on the roster Thursday. The Cardinals, though, had more success with second-year quarterback John Skelton starting than with Kolb, who missed much of last season -- his first with Arizona -- with turf toe and a concussion.

Also: Washington and St. Louis have a deal in place for the Redskins to move into the No. 2 spot in next month's NFL Draft. The Redskins will give up three first-round selections -- this year's No. 6 overall, along with first-rounders in 2013 and 2014 -- plus a second-round pick this year in the swap, which must be approved by the NFL and can't be completed under league rules until the free-agency period begins Tuesday.

Details of the trade emerged Friday night, and Rams chief operating officer Kevin Demoff confirmed it Saturday.

It allows the Redskins to leapfrog all other teams that had an interest in quarterback Robert Griffin III.

Minnesota released left guard Steve Hutchinson, right guard Anthony Herrera and cornerback Cedric Griffin, saving more than $13 million for this year by jettisoning three players who've been in their starting lineup for the better part of the past five seasons.

Hutchinson, a five-time first-team All-Pro, was the most significant departure, though at age 34 and with a $6.95 million salary that was due this year, he realized he was just as likely to be let go as many other veterans who didn't fit in the franchise's plan.

The Atlanta Falcons agreed to terms with former Pro Bowl linebacker Lofa Tatupu. No terms were released.

Tatupu was a second-round draft pick by Seattle in 2005 and spent six seasons with the Seahawks. The 29-year-old was released last summer after failing to reach agreement on a restructured deal. He didn't play in 2011.

GOLF

Watson holds three-shot lead at Cadillac Championship

Bubba Watson hit one shot over the green and off the tower. Another shot hit a fan in the gallery. As wild as it looked at times, he never lost control of his game, and he never lost the lead in the Cadillac Championship at Doral, Fla.

Watson raced off to an eagle-birdie start and then survived a few errant shots coming home on the Blue Monster for a 5-under-par 67, giving him a 17-under 199 total and a three-shot lead while putting him on the verge of his first World Golf Championship.

Keegan Bradley (66) was in second at 14-under 202. Justin Rose was tied for the lead through 11 holes until Watson found his groove and Rose made too many mistakes. Rose three-putted from long range on the 18th for a 69, leaving him tied with Bradley.

Top-ranked Rory McIlroy played the last six holes in 2 over and still shot 65, while Tiger Woods failed to do much after a birdie-birdie-birdie start. He twice made bogey on the par 5s and shot 68. Both were eight shots behind.

Also: George McNeill shot 5-under 67 to take a one-shot lead over Henrik Stenson and Kevin Stadler going into the final round of the PGA Tour's Puerto Rico Open in Rio Grande.

McNeill had a 13-under 203 total.

HORSE RACING

Creative Cause wins San Felipe, makes case for Kentucky Derby

Creative Cause rallied from fifth to win the $300,000 San Felipe Stakes by three-quarters of a length over Bodemeister in a Kentucky Derby prep at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif.

Ridden by Joel Rosario, Creative Cause went extremely wide around the final turn and drifted out even wider before Rosario straightened him out. The gray colt trained by 70-year-old Mike Harrington ran 1 1/16 miles in 1 minute, 41.84 seconds and paid $6.40, $3.40 and $2.60 as the 2-1 second choice.

Also: Trinniberg won the $150,000 Swale Stakes at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., beating 45-1 long shot Hello Prince by six lengths.

Trinniberg was making his first start since a disappointing seventh-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Sprint at Churchill Downs. With Willie Martinez aboard, he ran seven furlongs on a fast track in 1 minute, 21.69 seconds.

WINTER SPORTS

Wranglers dump Reign, move into first in Pacific Division

The Wranglers rolled past the Ontario Reign 4-1 in Ontario, Calif., to reclaim first place in the ECHL's Pacific Division.

Ontario scored early in the first period, but it was all Las Vegas the rest of the way. Chris Francis tied it on a penalty shot in the first, Sean Wiles and Judd Blackwater scored in the second, and Robbie Smith scored in the third period.

Las Vegas goaltender Mitch O'Keefe stopped 25 shots, holding the Reign to one goal for the second straight night. The Wranglers (39-19-5) have 83 points, one ahead of Ontario.

Also: Sidney Crosby's comeback -- version 2.0 -- could come on Broadway.

The Pittsburgh Penguins star ruled himself out for today's game against Boston but is optimistic he could play for the first time since early December when the team travels to play the Eastern Conference-leading New York Rangers on Thursday.

"Any game at this point is going to be exciting," Crosby said. "A game like that, you have to make sure that you're that much more ready."

And Crosby is not, at least not yet.

The 24-year-old former Most Valuable Player practiced with his teammates but said he feels he needs a few more days of mixing it up with them before donning his familiar No. 87 for the first time since concussionlike symptoms resurfaced following a loss to the Bruins on Dec. 5.

Also: A Canadian skier died in a World Cup skicross event in Geneva, tumbling through safety nets in what ski authorities called a "freak accident." It was the second death in less than two months of a freestyle skier from Canada.

Nick Zoricic died from head injuries when he crashed directly into the nets lining the side of the course after going wide over the final jump. As he went through the nets, his skis and poles were thrown clear.

Zoricic, 29, died exactly two months after Winter X Games champion Sarah Burke crashed during halfpipe training in Park City, Utah. Burke died from her injuries nine days later. She was also 29.

American Ted Ligety won the season's next-to-last World Cup giant slalom in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia.

The giant slalom season champion in 2008, '10 and '11, Ligety trails leader Marcel Hirscher of Austria by 92 points with one race remaining.

MISCELLANEOUS

Djokovic rolls, Murray tumbles early at Indian Wells tourney

Novak Djokovic opened his bid for a third BNP Paribas Open championship with an easy victory, dispatching qualifier Andrey Golubev 6-3, 6-2 in Indian Wells, Calif.

But fourth-seeded Andy Murray got bounced in his opener, losing to Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 6-4, 6-2.

The top-ranked Djokovic was a winner over Rafael Nadal last year in the finale at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden and also was the 2008 champion.

Maria Sharapova and Caroline Wozniacki, the top seeds in the bottom half of the women's draw, took easy first steps toward a possible meeting in the semifinals. The second-seeded Sharapova beat Gisella Dulko of Argentina 6-2, 6-0, and No. 4 seed Wozniacki posted a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Ekaterina Makarova of Russia.

Americans John Isner and Andy Roddick won their opening matches.

Also: Morgan Lucas raced to the No. 1 qualifying position in Top Fuel at the NHRA Gatornationals with a 3.766-second pass at 321.88 mph in Gainesville, Fla.

Cruz Pedregon (Funny Car), Allen Johnson (Pro Stock) and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle) led their divisions.

American sprinter Justin Gatlin earned his first gold medal since serving a four-year doping suspension, teammate Ashton Eaton set a heptathlon world record, and Sanya Richards-Ross won the 400 meters by a wide margin on an all-American day at the World Indoor Track and Field Championships in Istanbul.

Gatlin chased down Nesta Carter to win the 60 meters in 6.46 seconds, 0.08 seconds better than his Jamaican rival.

Eaton dominated the two-day heptathlon, capping it with an overwhelming 1,000-meter win. He broke the record he set last year by 77 points with a total of 6,645.