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USA Today
25 minutes ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Tyreek Hill: 'I don't feel like I deserve' to be a captain in 2025
Tyreek Hill: 'I don't feel like I deserve' to be a captain in 2025 Tyreek Hill says he's focused on earning his Miami Dolphins teammates' trust back after ending the 2024 season with a pseudo trade request. And after three straight years of being a team captain in as many years with the Dolphins, the eight-time Pro Bowl wide receiver isn't expecting to keep the honor in 2025. "I gotta prove myself," Hill told reporters Wednesday after an organized team activity (OTA). "This OTAs, training camp, I gotta prove myself. I gotta show up different. The mindset's gotta be different. I don't feel like I deserve [to be captain] and if I didn't get it, I wouldn't dwell on it, I wouldn't sweat it, because I put myself in that position. "Every day I'm trying to prove myself as one of those guys that this team can depend on in crucial moments." In addition to telling reporters in January that he was "opening the door" to leave Miami, the receiver also removed himself from the lineup in the second half of the Dolphins' Week 18 loss to the New York Jets. "Emotions were high, but at the end of the day, I'm just looking to move forward from that," Hill said Wednesday. "I'm hoping that I can prove to my teammates that I'm still one of them ones. Still chasing [2,000 yards], still chasing playoff dreams." So far, it seems his determination to impress teammates and coaches is working. 'Tyreek's been great,' new Dolphins receivers coach Robert Prince told reporters earlier this month. 'If I text him, he texts me back. If I call him, he calls me back. He says I'm going to be here, he's been here. And it's been great. I've had nothing but positive experiences with Tyreek, and he's a great leader in the room.' Hill, 31, finished the 2024 season with 81 receptions for 959 yards and six touchdowns. It was the first time in his career he didn't earn a Pro Bowl nod.
USA Today
25 minutes ago
- Business
- USA Today
Is the NFL about to take aim at one of the Saints' most important salary cap tools?
Is the NFL about to take aim at one of the Saints' most important salary cap tools? Could one of the New Orleans Saints' most important tools go the way of the dinosaur? Reporters and NFL analysts have had time to fully explore the comments made by commissioner Roger Goodell at last week's owners meetings, and one statement stood out to Over The Cap's Jason Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald is one of the foremost salary cap experts around, and his interpretation of Goodell's discussion should perk the Saints' ears up. Here's an excerpt from Goodell's reflection on among owners ahead of negotiations on a new CBA, via Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio: "We did spend time today talking, at length, about areas of our Collective Bargaining Agreement that we want to focus on. The two areas that we spent time on were really the cap system itself, the integrity of that system, how's it working, where do we need to address that in the context of collective bargaining, when that does happen. That was a very lengthy discussion." The second point Goodell referenced was the rising cost of owning an NFL franchise. He clarified that to mean "the cost of stadiums, the cost to facilities, the cost of operation, the cost of investment, and how dramatically that's impacting the ownership view." That bit about the "integrity" of the salary cap stands out. Many teams around the league have adopted tools the Saints pioneered in maneuvering the cap, specifically the use of automatically-voiding "ghost years" that spread out signing bonus payouts in years players will never suit up for a team. It's just one example, but that trick allows a team like the Saints to sign a free agent safety like Justin Reid to a three-year, $31.5 million contract that carries a first-year cap hit of just $3.8 million. Some owners, Goodell's comments and Fitzgerald's commentary suggest, believe that kind of rules-bending is unfair. Whether you agree is up to you, but it sounds like some owners feel pressured to actually invest in their teams in order to remain competitive. And their response to that pressure is to snuff it out rather than buckle. As Florio observed, superyachts don't pay for themselves. Let's say that the NFL does ban void years in the near future. How dramatically does that change things for the Saints? Could they wriggle their way out of that jam? The easiest way to ban void years would be to require teams to attach a salary to future years, not just signing bonus proration; that would mean a five-year deal is really a five-year deal, not a three-year deal with two void years tacked on. But they could still come up with a solution like only paying out, on paper, base salaries in those two future years. That could increase the dead money owed when a player is let go after the third year, or sooner, but not prohibitively so. That we came up with a solution and a way around it in this paragraph suggests the NFL will need to come up with a stronger approach, when or if they get around to it. Ironically, the best way to enforce comparable salary cap spending across the board would mean taking a step owners would balk at. Fully guaranteeing contracts just like MLB and the NBA do just might do the trick. Giving teams no outlet to play with funny money would force them to commit to spending every dollar in every contract, but that's another no-no for owners, who have fought tooth and nail to keep from guaranteeing all of the money in deals even with rookie draft picks. At some point, even they will have to realize they can't have their cake and eat it, too.
USA Today
25 minutes ago
- Sport
- USA Today
UFC's Khalil Rountree feels 'most confident' in a while heading into Jamahal Hill fight
UFC's Khalil Rountree feels 'most confident' in a while heading into Jamahal Hill fight LAS VEGAS - Khalil Rountree is embracing the opportunity to headline another UFC event. Rountree (13-6 MMA, 9-6 UFC) will look to rebound from his title loss to Alex Pereira at UFC 307 when he takes on former light heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill (12-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) in the UFC on ABC 8 main event on June 21 from Baku Crystal Hall in Baku, Azerbaijan. "I think it's a great main event for people to watch," Rountree told MMA Junkie and other reporters during the TUF anniversary scrum. "You got two big strikers going in there, and I'm ready. I'm glad that the UFC called me. I've been training a lot, I've learnt from my mistakes in the Alex fight, and just went right back to work. Still got some scars but they're healed, they're not going to open back up. My mind's good, my heart's good, and we get to travel. So, I'm really fired up about this match. I feel good about this matchup, and this is the most confident I've been in a while. So, I'm ready to share that with the fans." Rountree received plenty of praise for his valiant effort against Pereira, where he won Rounds 1 and 2 on all judges' scorecards before "Poatan" rallied to finish him in Round 4. While Rountree's stock got higher, he's not entirely fulfilled. "The only pride that I have in that fight is the ability to win the hearts of the fans," Rountree said. "The fact that the fans saw my heart in the fight, and I got appreciation for just going in there and giving my all. But when I watch the fight myself, no pride. "Only corrections because I didn't get that far just to get that far. I'm still gutted for it. My goal, my dream, my focus right now is the belt, and that night I came up short. Just putting on a good performance for the fans isn't enough for me. So, I'm back in the game, I'm locked and loaded, and ready to be the champion."
USA Today
25 minutes ago
- Sport
- USA Today
3 trade targets for the Philadelphia 76ers in the upcoming offseason
3 trade targets for the Philadelphia 76ers in the upcoming offseason The main goal for the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2025 offseason is to get healthy. They finished 24-58 in what was a miserable season due to all of the injuries suffered by Joel Embiid, Paul George, Tyrese Maxey, and plenty of others. If the Sixers get those three healthy, they will be back in business. However, the Sixers could also use some reliable depth. When one looks around the landscape of the NBA Playoffs at the moment, the teams that went deep into the postseason relied on their depth. It wasn't just a Big 3--like in Philadelphia's case--it's been about making sure players off the bench can help. Therefore, there are a handful of moves the Sixers can make to improve their overall depth as time moves on. Here are three trade targets that make sense for Philadelphia: Kenrich Williams 2024-25 stats: 6.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 1.4 apg, 0.6 spg, 48.3% FG, 38.6% 3FG, 16.4 mpg Williams will make $7.1 million in 2025-26 and had a team option for the 2026-27 season. He is a reliable player who can knock down an open 3 and gets after it on the defensive end. The Sixers could always use a player of his stature on the roster. He is somebody that does the dirty work off the bench and would be able to give Philadelphia a spark. He shot 40.9% on catch-and-shoot 3s per the NBA's tracking database and that bodes well for a team like the Sixers. Dalton Knecht 2024-25 stats: 9.1 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 0.8 apg, 0.3 spg, 46.1% FG, 37.6% 3FG, 19.2 mpg The Lakers already tried trading Knecht at the deadline in an effort to acquire a big man. Maybe the Sixers can swoop in and offer up Andre Drummond as a possibility. The Sixers would then clear some more cap space to re-sign Quentin Grimes while Knecht would come off the bench and knock down some wide-open looks. He was a key contributor on LA's playoff team in 2025 so he has the experience of playing in high pressure situations which would help Philadelphia in this case for the second unit. Cam Johnson 2024-25 stats: 18.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 3.4 apg, 0.9 spg, 47.5% FG, 39% 3FG, 31.6 mpg Johnson would be a big addition if the Sixers were interested. He is a legitimated 3-point shooter, can make plays for others when he puts the ball on the floor, and his $20 million salary is reasonable for today's market. The Sixers would likely have to send Brooklyn the No. 3 pick, but that isn't a bad thing. Philadelphia would be bringing in a proven player in Johnson while creating more cap space to bring back both Grimes and Guerschon Yabusele in free agency--by moving off the No. 3 pick's salary for the 2025-26 season. Johnson would slide into the starting lineup and be a reliable offensive option.
USA Today
29 minutes ago
- Politics
- USA Today
Trump administration agrees to end use of race, gender in highway, transit contracts
Trump administration agrees to end use of race, gender in highway, transit contracts The Trump administration agreed to end the U.S. Transportation Department's use of race or gender when awarding highway and transit project funding. Show Caption Hide Caption 100 days of Trump: 3 key changes impacting people across America 100 days after returning to power, Donald Trump is charging ahead with tariffs, an immigration crackdown and federal cuts, including dismantling DEI. The Transportation department said in a court filing that it agreed the "program's use of race- and sex-based presumptions is unconstitutional." The department previously defended the policy as seeking to remedy past discrimination but said it has reevaluated its position in light of factors including a 2023 Supreme Court's decision. The Trump administration said on Wednesday it has agreed to end the U.S. Transportation Department's consideration of race or gender when awarding billions of dollars in federal highway and transit project funding set aside for disadvantaged small businesses. A judge in September in Kentucky ruled that a federal program enacted in 1983 that treats businesses owned by racial minorities and women as presumptively disadvantaged and eligible for such funding violated the U.S. Constitution's equal protection guarantees. The Transportation department said in a court filing that it agreed the "program's use of race- and sex-based presumptions is unconstitutional." The department previously defended the policy as seeking to remedy past discrimination but said it has reevaluated its position in light of factors including the Supreme Court's decision in 2023 in an affirmative action case. U.S. District Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove in Frankfort, Kentucky, an appointee of Republican former President George W. Bush, said the federal government cannot classify people in ways that violate the principles of equal protection in the U.S. Constitution. More: DEI explained: What is DEI and why is it so divisive? What you need to know. He relied in part on a ruling last year by the U.S. Supreme Court that effectively prohibited affirmative action policies long used in college admissions to raise the number of Black, Hispanic and other underrepresented minority students on American campuses. More: Two men fought for jobs in a river-town mill. 50 years later, the nation is still divided. The program was reauthorized in 2021 through then Democratic President Joe Biden's signature Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which set aside more than $37 billion for that purpose.
