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Eric Winston elected president of NFL players’ union

Cardinals offensive tackle Eric Winston has started 112 consecutive games, dating to his second season with the Houston Texans in 2007.
(Rick Scuteri / Associated Press)
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Eric Winston was elected president of the NFL Players Assn. on Wednesday, three years after he was active for the union during the lockout.

The 30-year-old offensive lineman was the Arizona Cardinals’ starting right tackle last season, his eighth in the league. He is a free agent.

Winston succeeds Domonique Foxworth as NFLPA president. Foxworth was out of the league last season and so could not seek re-election.

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NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith tweeted: “Thank you to (at)Foxworth24 and all the Executive Committee for their leadership. Congratulations to Eric Winston. Lots of great work ahead.”

The other candidates for president were New Orleans Saints tight end Ben Watson and former Pittsburgh Steelers safety Ryan Clark, who is a free agent.

Watson and Clark will both serve on the executive committee elected later Wednesday by the union’s board of representatives. Clark joined Lorenzo Alexander and Jay Feely of the Cardinals, Zak DeOssie and Mark Herzlich of the Giants, Adam Vinatieri of the Colts, and Scott Wells of the Rams as new members of the executive committee. Watson, Matt Hasselbeck of the Colts, and free agent Brian Waters were re-elected.

Saints quarterback Drew Brees stepped down from the executive committee.

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The Tennessee Titans released Rob Bironas, the franchise’s second-leading career scorer and one of the most accurate kickers in NFL history.

Bironas had 1,032 points in his nine-year career with Tennessee and was only 28 points behind Al Del Greco, the top scorer in the history of the Houston Oilers and Tennessee Titans organization. Bironas has made 85.7% of his career field-goal attempts (239 of 279) to rank fourth in NFL history in accuracy.

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The Oakland Raiders filled their void at left tackle by signing free agent Donald Penn to a two-year contract.

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Penn fills the opening created when Jared Veldheer left as a free agent for Arizona and left unfilled when Rodger Saffold failed his physical after agreeing to a five-year, $42.5-million deal with Oakland.

The NFL Network reported that Penn’s contract.

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