Russell Wilson does not fear playing in a loaded AFC West division and says he wants to play another 10 to 12 years and win three or four more Super Bowls with the Denver Broncos.
The blockbuster trade of Wilson from the Seattle Seahawks to the Denver Broncos was made official on Wednesday, the start of the new NFL league year.
The Broncos agreed to send two first-round picks, a pair of second-rounders and a fifth-round selection to the Seahawks to land the nine-time Pro Bowler.
Also included in the deal were quarterback Drew Lock, tight end Noah Fant and defensive lineman Shelby Harris, with a fourth-round pick going to Denver along with Wilson.
Having spent his career to this point in the ultra-competitive NFC West, Wilson now has to contend with Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, who have hosted the last four AFC Championship Games, Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers and Derek Carr and a Las Vegas Raiders team that made the playoffs last season.
Wilson is relishing six games against such high-quality competition.
Asked about his divisional foes at his introductory media conference, Wilson replied: "Why would you want it any other way? I want to play against the best, I don't fear anything, so I'm looking forward to it.
"My goal is to play 10-12 more years and hopefully win three or four more Super Bowls, that's my mindset."
In a series of farewell statements from the franchise hierarchy, the Seahawks suggested it was Wilson who initiated the process that led to Seattle trading away the greatest quarterback in team history.
"Russell has been a tremendous player, leader, and member of our organisation since the day we drafted him in the third round in 2012," general manager John Schneider said.
"His tireless work ethic has helped make him one of the most successful QBs in NFL history and we thank him for his many contributions on the field and in the community.
"When it became evident that Russell was interested in playing elsewhere, we used that opportunity to explore the market, allowing us to acquire three quality players, tremendous draft capital, and create salary cap flexibility. We have a clear vision about the direction of this team, and this is an exciting time for our organisation."
Wilson, though, rejected such claims, responding: "I didn't initiate it. It was definitely mutual.
"We'll have to read about it later, we'll have some fun maybe with my book one day, we'll have some good stories."
San Diego Padres superstar Fernando Tatis Jr had surgery on his broken left wrist on Wednesday, and is expected to be out of action for three months.
Padres general manager A.J. Preller said the team believes Tatis sustained the injury early in the off-season, but that he only started noticing the symptoms when he started swinging a bat again.
While it has not been confirmed by the organisation, there were reports that Tatis was involved in a motorcycle accident in the Dominican Republic in December.
Tatis, 23, is entering the second year of his 14-year, $340million deal after an incredible start to his career.
Despite missing time in 2021 due to left shoulder inflammation, Tatis still managed to lead the National League with 42 home runs in just 130 games.
He hit .282, stole 25 bases and had the league's third-highest OPS at .975, finishing the year third in the NL in MVP voting.
Two-time Super Bowl-winning edge rusher Von Miller has signed with the Buffalo Bills in a deal worth a maximum of $120million over six years.
According to reports, Miller is guaranteed $45m at signing, with the contract including $51.5m in total guarantees.
Miller, 33, was widely tipped to return to the Los Angeles Rams after joining the team in a mid-season trade and helping them win their first Super Bowl since returning from St Louis.
Instead, he signed what stands as the fifth-largest contract for a defensive player by total value.
Miller is a seven-time All-Pro, a Super Bowl MVP and a member of the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team.
He is coming off a season in which he reaffirmed his undoubted prowess as one of the league's premier edge rushers.
Miller finished 2021 with 9.5 sacks for the Denver Broncos and the Rams, racking up five for Los Angeles in the final four games of the regular season.
His strong play down the stretch carried into the Rams' triumphant postseason, Miller registering a sack in the wins over the Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers before sacking Joe Burrow twice in their victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI.
He finished the season fifth among edge rushers with at least 100 one on one matchups with a stunt-adjusted pass rush win rate of 43.40, according to Stats Perform data.
While Miller is still at the top of his game, the Bills also made a move to reinvigorate the career of a player on the offensive side of the ball, signing tight end O.J. Howard on a one-year deal.
A first-round pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2017, Howard has played an extremely limited role in the Bucs' recent success, tallying just 25 catches in the last two seasons.
Having averaged 16.6 yards per reception across his first two seasons in the league, the Bills will hope they can help him recapture that explosive early form and provide yet more support for quarterback Josh Allen after their phenomenal offensive performance in a memorable overtime shootout loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Divisional Round of the playoffs.
Brooklyn Nets' new star acquisition Ben Simmons received an epidural injection while he was away from the team during the team's trip to Orlando.
Simmons is yet to play a game this season. He was traded by the Philadelphia 76ers after making himself unavailable due to mental health reasons following the fallout from their 2021 playoffs defeat to the Atlanta Hawks, while a back injury has delayed his Nets debut.
In Wednesday's press conference, coach Steve Nash said the hope was that the injection would assist the healing process.
Nash went on to say that the team will have to wait-and-see how Simmons reacts to the treatment, and that there is no current timetable for his return to practice.
The Tennessee Titans are releasing future Hall of Fame wide receiver Julio Jones after an injury-riddled year saw him miss nearly half of the season.
As well as missing games, the 33-year-old showed signs of decline in his on-field play, finishing with career-low marks in yards, touchdowns, and receptions – both on a per-game basis and in total.
The trade to acquire Jones – which involved sending a 2022 second-round pick and a 2023 fourth-round pick to the Atlanta Falcons – will go down as a painful one for the Titans in a draft stacked with exciting wide receiver prospects, many of whom will be available in round two.
Tennessee do still have one of the NFL's most exciting young receivers in A.J. Brown, who finished with 869 receiving yards and five touchdowns despite missing four games in 2021.
Jones' departure does, however, create a gaping hole behind Brown on the depth chart, signalling there will be some incoming help for quarterback Ryan Tannehill, either in the draft or in free agency.
Zack Greinke is returning to where he started his major league career, agreeing to a one-year, $13 million contract with the Kansas City Royals, pending a physical, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.
The Royals selected Greinke with the sixth overall pick of the 2002 draft and he made his MLB debut for the club two years later.
Spending his first seven seasons in Kansas City, Greinke won the 2009 AL Cy Young Award with a league-leading 2.16 ERA and 242 strikeouts in 229 1/3 innings.
Pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2015, he won his second ERA title, recording a 1.66 ERA, and finished second in NL Cy Young voting.
The 38-year-old, who has been selected to six All-Star Games and has won six Gold Gloves, has also pitched for the Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Angels, Arizona Diamondbacks and spent the last three seasons with the Houston Astros.
In 29 starts and one appearance out of the bullpen last season, the right-hander went 11-6 with a 4.16 ERA and 1.17 WHIP in a team-leading 171 innings.
The ERA and WHIP were both his highest since 2016, when he posted a 4.37 ERA and 1.27 WHIP in his first season for Arizona.
He ranks 23rd on the all-time strikeout list with 2,809 and third behind Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander among active pitchers, but his strikeout rate of 6.32 per nine innings last season was his lowest since it was at 5.61 during his second year in the majors in 2005.
The Las Vegas Raiders have agreed a deal to sign four-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Chandler Jones, with Yannick Ngakoue set to head to the Indianapolis Colts in a trade.
According to multiple reports, Jones will join the Raiders on a three-year deal worth roughly $51million.
It follows a stellar six-season spell in Arizona, which saw him record double-digit sacks in five campaigns.
Since 2015, his final year with the New England Patriots, only Aaron Donald (89) has more sacks to his name than Jones (84). No player has forced more fumbles than Jones (27) in that span.
Though he is now 32, Jones showed little sign of slowing down for the Cardinals last season, registering 10.5 sacks as Arizona returned to the playoffs for the first time since the 2015 campaign.
His move to the Raiders sees him reunite with Josh McDaniels, the two having crossed paths during their time in New England, where McDaniels was the offensive coordinator before taking the job in Las Vegas this offseason.
Jones will immediately step in for Ngakoue, who finished last season with 10 sacks, his first time reaching double digits since 2017 with the Jacksonville Jaguars (12), and will hope to do the same for a Colts team that was 20th in pass rush win rate, according to Stats Perform data, in 2021.
Heading the other way is cornerback Rock Ya-Sin, a former second-round pick of the Colts coming off a statistically impressive season.
Ya-Sin allowed a burn, which is when a receiver wins his matchup with a defender on a play where he is targeted, on 46.8 per cent of targets last season. The average for corners with at least 25 targets was 51.3.
He allowed 5.92 burn yards per target, the fewest among corners (min. 25 targets) and 0.90 burn yards per snap (third fewest), illustrating the limited separation Ya-Sin allowed receivers.
Between the arrivals of Jones and Ya-Sin, a defense that allowed the eighth-fewest yards per pass play (5.91) in the NFL last season will hope to produce sterner showings against opposing aerial attacks under new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham.
The new Saudi Arabia-backed golf competition has announced a series of tournaments that will begin in England in June, the event offering a record $25million (£19.1m) purse.
A number of high-profile players were said to have been targeted by organisers of the lucrative breakaway league from the PGA Tour, including Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy.
But most of golf's stars, including the trio, denounced the proposal, which appeared to fade away after widespread condemnation and ridicule.
However, the LIV Golf Invitational - headed by chief executive Greg Norman - has been announced and is being regarded as the first form of a breakaway Super Golf League.
The new series will include eight 54-hole events across Europe, America and Asia, with the first tournament set to take place at the Centurion Club in Hertfordshire from 9-11 June, the week before the US Open.
There will be $25m on offer at the inaugural event, $5m more than the record $20m purse at last week's Players Championship, which Cameron Smith won on Monday.
No players have been announced as competing in the breakaway league yet, but the PGA and Europe's DP World Tours have threatened defectors to the new league with lifetime bans.
"In year one, there will be a max of 48 players on 12 four-man teams and a truly global field with golfers invited from all tours around the world to beta test the new format," said a statement from the organisers.
"Each event will have teams comprised of different players determined by a draft the week of the event."
Norman added: "Our events are truly additive to the world of golf. We have done our best to create a schedule that allows players to play elsewhere, while still participating in our events.
"I believe players will increasingly make progress in achieving their right to play where they want. We will help in any way possible and will provide golfers with opportunities to achieve their full potential."
The tournaments will have no cuts and all competitors will start simultaneously, with the season-ending eighth event set to offer an even larger reward.
"Total prize purse for the eight events will reach an unprecedented $255m," the statement continued.
"The first seven regular-season events will carry a total purse of $25m comprised of $20m in individual prizes (all players in the field earn a share) and $5m for the top three teams.
"Following the first seven events, an individual champion will be crowned offering a total purse of $30m for the top three individuals of the season.
"The season-ending eighth event will be a team championship that will provide $50m in total prize funds."
England lock Charlie Ewels has been given a three-match ban for the red card he received early on against Ireland last weekend.
The 26-year-old was dismissed just 82 seconds into Saturday's 32-15 defeat at Twickenham after clashing heads with opposite number James Ryan.
That red card was the earliest ever in the Six Nations, with each of the three quickest in the competition's history each coming in the last two editions.
Ewels will now miss England's final game of this year's tournament against France in Paris, as well as Bath's Premiership fixtures against Sale Sharks and Worcester Warriors.
However, he can undertake a Coaching Intervention Programme to have that suspension reduced to two matches, meaning he will be available to face Worcester on March 30.
Ewels was facing a possible ban of up to six weeks, but that was halved due to mitigating factors such as an early acceptance of the red and his remorse.
England's defeat to Ireland means they cannot finish any higher than third in this year's tournament.
Next opponents France are two points better off than Ireland, who host Scotland in the final round of fixtures, and are one win away from a first title and Grand Slam since 2010.
Two of France's three previous Grand Slams have been completed with a win over England in the final round, in 2004 and 2010.
England head to Paris aiming to avoid losing three games in a single edition of the competition for a third time under Eddie Jones, previously doing so in 2018 and 2021.
The Grand Slam Board has announced that first-to-10 tie-breaks will conclude the final sets of all four majors with immediate effect.
Starting with May's French Open, the decision is being adopted on a trial basis with the aim of providing "greater consistency" to the rules when matches go the distance.
Prior to Wednesday's announcement, the French Open, Australian Open, US Open and Wimbledon each had their own rules when games went to a deciding tie-break.
The Australian Open is the only grand slam to already employ the first-to-10 rule at 6-6.
Wimbledon previously played first-to-seven at 12-12, while the US Open played a first-to-seven at 6-6.
There has not previously been a deciding tie-break at Roland-Garros, with all matches continuing until a player secured a two-game lead in the decider.
A statement released on behalf of Grand Slam Board members Jayne Hrdlicka, Gilles Moretton, Ian Hewitt and Mike McNulty confirmed the changes.
It read: "The Grand Slam Board's decision is based on a strong desire to create greater consistency in the rules of the game at the Grand Slams, and thus enhance the experience for the players and fans alike.
"This trial, which has been approved by the rules of the tennis committee governed by the ITF, will apply to all Grand Slams across qualifying, men's singles and doubles, women's singles and doubles, wheelchair and junior events in singles, and will commence at the 2022 edition of Roland-Garros."
The rule change will be reviewed after a full Grand Slam year and will remain in place should it be deemed a success.
The tweaks to the current format will ensure no repeat of John Isner's marathon battle with Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon in 2010, which the American edged 70-68 in the final set of their first-round match.
McLaren have confirmed Daniel Ricciardo will return to the paddock on Thursday after testing negative for COVID-19.
It had been feared that Ricciardo would miss the first grand prix of the 2022 Formula One season in Bahrain due to contracting the virus.
However, the Australian has now returned several negative tests and, according to his team, has recovered over the course of his isolation period.
"McLaren Team confirms that after testing positive for COVID-19 last week, Daniel has now returned a number of negative tests and will therefore return to the paddock on Thursday ready to compete in this weekend's Bahrain GP," McLaren posted on Twitter on Wednesday.
In his first season with McLaren after leaving Renault, Ricciardo finished eighth in the drivers' championship last year with 115 points, 45 fewer than team-mate Lando Norris, who came sixth.
Ricciardo was able to record a famous win in Italy, but did not finish on the podium in any other race.
Steve Nash joked Kyrie Irving produced more career highlights in the space of 12 minutes against the Orlando Magic than the Brooklyn Nets coach managed in his entire career.
Irving scored a career-high 60 points – the most for a Nets player in their NBA history – in Tuesday's 150-108 victory in Florida.
The seven-time NBA All-Star shot 20 for 31, which included eight of 12 on 3-pointers, and made 12 of 13 free throws in his 35 minutes on the court.
Forty-one of Irving's points came in the first half as he became the second Nets player over the past 25 years, after Deron Williams in March 2012, to have 40-plus points in a half.
It was an individual display that will long live in the memory, with Brooklyn coach Nash leading the tributes for the 29-year-old.
"He's just incredible. I felt like he had my career highlight reel in the first 12 minutes of the game," Nash said.
"It's special to watch him every night – but it's special to watch him on nights like this, where he's in total control, total command.
"He gets wherever he wants and is able to finish amongst the trees. It's just a pleasure to see it up close and to be a part of it."
Irving's 60-point display came a day after the Minnesota Timberwolves' Karl-Anthony Towns also hit that mark against the San Antonio Spurs.
It marks the first time that two players have scored 60 points on successive nights in NBA since 1962.
There have now been seven 50-point games in the NBA in March, which is tied for the most in a single month since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976.
And Nets star Kevin Durant, who added 19 points in the win over Orlando, believes the division is now as strong as ever.
"The night after Karl Towns had an incredible performance, to then have Kyrie do it the next night, the league is in an incredible place right now," Durant said.
"I'm sure in the first quarter you saw it developing. Sixteen in the first and then midway through the second all of us on the bench are still looking.
"It's just like that every game for Ky, when you look up and, like, 'Damn, he got 10, 12, 14 points already'."
Durant scored 53 points in Sunday's win over the New York Knicks, making him and Irving the first team-mates in NBA history with 50+ points in back-to-back games.
"Making history, man. making history," Irving said when that stat was put to him. "Doing it with that guy is very special. But credit goes to our group.
"Our guys in our locker room, they really believe in us, they really rock with us, there's not a doubt in our mind that they really believe that we can do something special.
"And not just this year, but for years to come. We have a good group. And we're all sacrificing something that's bigger than ourselves."
He added: "When you're a kid scoring a bunch of points, it means something. When you're in the best league in the world doing it against the greatest, it means a little bit more."
The Nets have now won four games in a row to improve to 36-33 for the season, placing them eighth in the Eastern Conference.
Irving will not play against the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday due to New York City's mandate requiring vaccination against COVID-19, though he intends to be in attendance.
"I'll probably wear a media pass," he joked. "It's a little awkwardness.
"But I'll show up there with my family and get a warm embrace from New York, Brooklyn, everybody that's there to support the Nets and support our organisation, support me."
Baker Mayfield has cast doubt over his future with the Cleveland Browns amid reports that Deshaun Watson might be about to join the team.
Watson requested a trade from the Houston Texans over a year ago and, according to NFL Media's Ian Rapoport, was set to meet with the Browns on Tuesday.
The Atlanta Falcons are also said to be interested in Watson, who did not feature at all in 2021 due to disagreements with the front office in Houston and accusations of sexual misconduct.
Last week, a Texas court grand jury did not find enough evidence for Watson to be charged with a crime following these allegations, though the 26-year-old still faces 22 civil lawsuits and remains under NFL investigation.
However, the three-time Pro Bowler seems a viable target for the Browns, who failed to make the playoffs last season, and Mayfield could make way.
It was a particularly frustrating campaign for Mayfield, who threw for 3,010 yards and 17 touchdowns, both career-lows.
His pass completion percentage dropped from 62.8 in 2020 to 60.5, as he also battled a lingering shoulder problem for which he eventually needed surgery, missing the final game of the season as a result.
On Tuesday, Mayfield revealed he was uncertain about what the immediate future would be, but despite his insistence to the contrary, his message to Cleveland fans felt like something of a farewell.
"Cleveland," read the statement, which was posted to Mayfield's official Twitter account.
"The past four years have been nothing short of truly life-changing since I heard my name called in the draft to go to Cleveland. This is not a message with hidden meaning. This is strictly to thank the city of Cleveland for embracing my family and me.
"We have made many memories and shared growing in this process through all the ups and downs. I have no clue what happens next, which is the meaning behind the silence I have had during the duration of this process. I can only control what I can, which is trusting in God's plan throughout this process.
"I have given the franchise everything I have. That is something I've always done at every stage, and at every level. And that will not change wherever I take my next snap.
"Whatever happens, I just want to say thank you to the fans who truly embraced who I am and the mentality that aligned so well with this city's hard-working people.
"Cleveland will always be a part of Emily's and my story. And we will always be thankful for the impact it has had and will have in our lives."
Mayfield enjoyed a brilliant maiden season in 2018, throwing a then-NFL rookie record of 27 touchdown passes, which he has not bettered since.
Paula Badosa went a step closer to defending her Indian Wells Open title as she ended Leylah Fernandez's run to reach the quarter-finals.
Badosa was calm under pressure against last year's US Open runner-up, saving five out of the six breakpoints she offered up in a 6-4 6-4 success.
Matters were less routine for third seed Iga Swiatek, who held her nerve to come back from a set down against three-time major champion Angelique Kerber.
Breakpoints were contested in six of the match's first eight games and Kerber made the big points count, but Swiatek went on to triumph 4-6 6-2 6-3.
Swiatek, 20, showed grit beyond her years as she broke Kerber's serve four times in the second set, cleaning up her first-serve percentage while the German was only able to win 31 per cent of her successful first-serves (4-13).
Both women hit over 70 per cent of their first-serves in the final set, with the difference coming down to the return game, where Swiatek won half of her return points (12-24), with Kerber struggling (5-22).
Swiatek will face American Madison Keys, who defeated Harriet Dart in a brisk 69 minutes, while Badosa goes up against Veronika Kudermetova, who overcame Naomi Osaka in contentious circumstances earlier in the tournament.
Jimmy Butler again sprained his ankle on Tuesday, during the Miami Heat's 105-98 win over the Detroit Pistons.
Max Strus scored 16 points off the bench in the fourth quarter as a result in the Heat's eventual win, earning extended minutes with Butler missing the entirety of the second half.
The 32-year-old All-Star has suffered a succession of injuries this season, and this new setback makes for his seventh ankle injury since 2020.
Though the Heat are due to face the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday, there is as yet no diagnosis or schedule for Butler's return.
Matteo Berrettini survived a scare to eventually progress to the fourth round at the Indian Wells Masters on Tuesday.
The Italian sixth seed had to fight from 2-5 down in the second set and saved three set points, before powering through to triumph 6-4 7-5 over Lloyd Harris.
"I got a little bit nervous," Berrettini said post-match. “I didn’t like how I handled the start of the second set. I let the anger get out a little bit, which helped. I found the right balance in order to break him in the important moment and then I had the momentum.”
The world number six found another level in reeling off five straight games, and will now face unseeded Miomir Kecmanovic, who accounted for Botic van de Zandschulp 7-6(6-3) 7-5.
Taylor Fritz was also pushed by Spanish qualifier Jaume Munar, taking a third-set tiebreaker to progress to the fourth round.
The 20th-seeded was made to work for it in a match that lasted just under three hours, but Munar feel short in the clutch, with two unforced forehand errors in the closing tiebreak to give Fritz a three-point gap.
In Tuesday's last game, Andrey Rublev showed rare composure to progress past Frances Tiafoe 6-3 6-4.
Neither got off to the best of starts, with Rublev and Tiafoe sharing service breaks in the opening four games of the first set. The characteristically volatile Rublev managed to regroup, though, and stayed calm even when Tiafoe got his home crowd on side.
Despite a low 67 percent on first serve, Rublev won 83 percent of those points, while Tiafoe did himself no favours with an even lower 58 percent first-serve rate.
Last-year’s semi-finalist will face 29th-seeded Alex de Minaur, who defeated Tommy Paul 7-6(6-2) 6-4.
The Australian world no. 31 faced immediate difficulty on service, with only his second service game going to eight consecutive deuces, after five saved break points. He eventually saw the match through, after breaking for 4-3 in the second set.
Fellow seeds Hubert Hurkacz and Grigor Dimitrov both went through relatively unscathed, with respective wins over Steve Johnson and Alexander Bublik.
Dimitrov will face John Isner, who saw past Diego Schwartzman 7-5 6-3 in Tuesday’s other result.
Another road game, and another virtuoso performance from Kyrie Irving in the Brooklyn Nets' 150-108 win over the Orlando Magic.
Unable to play in home games due to New York's vaccine mandate, Irving made the most of Brooklyn's trip to Orlando, scoring a ridiculous 41 points (14-19 from the field) in just the first half.
In an explosive team performance, the Nets scored 48 points in the first quarter, while Irving and Kevin Durant combined for 26. Irving went on to score another 25 of his side's 38 in the second period.
Irving eventually sat with more than eight minutes to go in the fourth quarter, with his team up by 37 and his personal tally at a career-best 60 points on 20-31 shooting, 8-12 from the perimeter and 12-13 from the free-throw line.
It also sets a new franchise record for the Nets, beating Deron Williams' 57 back in 2012.
Irving's previous high-scores were 57 points and 55 points, which he scored within two months of each other in the 2014-15 season with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The massive total ties the most points scored in an NBA game this season, matching Karl-Anthony Towns' mark which he set just yesterday.
Journeyman quarterback Tyrod Taylor is expected to sign a two-year, $17million deal as backup quarterback for the New York Giants.
In his 11th season in the NFL, Taylor will play for his fifth team after stints with the Los Angeles Chargers, Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills since being drafted by the Baltimore Ravens.
According to a report from ESPN's Adam Schefter, the deal for the 32-year-old includes $8.5m in guaranteed money.
The Giants did not immediately confirm the deal, but Taylor changed his Twitter bio to identify himself as a "current New York Giant".
He also posted the tweet: "NYC!!!!!"
Taylor lost his starting role with the Chargers after an injection resulted in a punctured lung shortly before kick-off against the Chiefs in September 2020, with rookie first-round pick Justin Herbert getting the start and taking over as the franchise quarterback.
WTA chairman Steve Simon declared Russian tennis players must not be penalised for their country's "authoritarian leadership" amid concerns they could be frozen out of top tournaments.
The ATP and WTA tours decided Russian and Belarusian players should not be allowed to represent those nations while the crisis in Ukraine continues, with stars such as Daniil Medvedev currently playing under a neutral flag.
The respective tennis tours have also cancelled plans to visit Russia in the near future.
United Kingdom sports minister Nigel Huddleston suggested on Tuesday that US Open champion Medvedev and fellow Russians could be blocked from playing at Wimbledon unless they make a stand against president Vladimir Putin.
But WTA head Simon insisted Russian and Belarusian tennis players should be able to continue featuring on the tour, despite a number of other sports banning such athletes.
"I can tell you that we have never banned athletes from participating on our tour as the result of political positions their leadership may take," Simon told BBC Sport.
"So it would take something very, very significant for that to change, but again we don't know where this is going."
If national governments impose preventive measures on Russian and Belarusian stars, Simon acknowledged there is little he can do to combat such rulings.
"I feel very, very strongly that again these individual athletes should not be the ones that are being penalised by the decisions of an authoritarian leadership that is obviously doing terrible, reprehensible things," Simon said.
"We are hopeful that they will refrain from that because I think there are an awful lot of other issues that go with it. I'm hoping that we continue with the sanctions, we continue doing everything we can to get peace, but again these people are the innocent victims of that, and being isolated as a result of these decisions I don't think it's fair."
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