Ryan Gosling is set to join the Star Wars galaxy, landing the lead role in a new standalone film titled Star Wars: Starfighter, Lucasfilm announced Friday.
Star Wars fans cheered when they learned of the news at Star Wars Celebration 2025, a three-day fan event running through April 20 outside Tokyo, Japan.
Star Wars: Starfighter director Shawn Levy, who also directed Deadpool & Wolverine, broke the news to the legions of fans gathered at the Makuhari Messe convention center. Gosling himself made a surprise appearance.
“One of those rumors I heard that I do need to dispel, is, I had heard at one point that my movie was going to star Ryan Gosling and believe me, that would be a dream come true for me," Levy said on stage. "So today, I just wanted to tell you here in this room that that rumor is 100% true.”
Gosling said he's excited to join the all-new Starfighter project.
“I think the reality is that this script is just so good," he said. "It has such a great story with great and original characters. It's filled with so much heart and adventure. And there just really is not a more perfect filmmaker for this particular story than Shawn [Levy]. So it's something I just really, really wanted to do.”
According to Lucasfilm and Levy, Star Wars: Starfighter is scheduled to begin filming this fall. The movie takes place five years after the events of Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker, which was released in 2019.
Star Wars: Starfighter will open exclusively in movie theaters on May 28, 2027.
Disney is the parent company of Lucasfilm and ABC News.
(HARRISBURG, Pa.) -- Days after an arson attack damaged his official residence, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro sat down with Good Morning America co-anchor George Stephanopoulos for an exclusive interview and a tour of the charred rooms.
"This is sadly a real part of our society today. And it needs to be universally condemned, George," Shapiro said regarding the rise of politically motivated threats and attacks that the Department of Homeland Security has warned about in recent years.
"I don't care if it's coming from the left, from the right. I don't care if it's coming from someone who you voted for or someone who you didn't vote for, someone on your team or someone on the other team," Shapiro continued.
The governor spoke with Stephanopoulos from one of the fire-damaged rooms at the governor's residence in Harrisburg on Thursday. For the first time together, the governor and first lady Lori Shapiro also toured the damage, along with Stephanopoulos.
The attack happened early Sunday, hours after the Shapiro family hosted more than two dozen people for the first night of Passover. The assailant hopped a fence at the governor's mansion, broke windows and hurled Molotov cocktails made from beer bottles and gasoline, police said.
Shapiro and his family were in the residence at the time of the fire but were evacuated safely and not injured, according to state police.
Harrisburg Fire Chief Brian Enterline described it as "surreal" to see fire shooting from the governor's residence. Luckily, the door from the main dining room was closed at the time of the blaze, keeping the fire from spreading into the living quarters. Had the door not been closed, Enterline said Shapiro and his family would no doubt have been at risk.
The suspect in the attack -- 38-year-old Cody Balmer -- turned himself in and allegedly told police he would have attacked Shapiro with a hammer if he happened upon the governor inside the residence, according to court documents.
The suspected arsonist allegedly decided to firebomb the Democratic governor's official residence because of "what he wants to do to the Palestinian people" and "based upon perceived injustices to the people of Palestine," according to police search warrants.
Balmer faces eight criminal charges, including attempted murder, terrorism and aggravated arson. So far, prosecutors have not invoked a hate crime law, which in Pennsylvania is known as ethnic intimidation.
Balmer -- a mechanic who had previously expressed disdain for Democrats on social media -- was denied bail at his arraignment on Monday.
During the hearing, his attorney said Balmer is indigent and asked for a "reasonable monetary bail," but the judge denied it, saying that while he appreciated that Balmer turned himself in, there were no conditions that could keep him from being a danger to the community.
Jennifer Vasquez Sura, wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia/Astrid Riecken For The Washington Post via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) -- Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran native living Maryland, was deported in March to a mega-prison in his home country of El Salvador -- despite a 2019 court order barring his deportation to that country due to fear of persecution -- after the Trump administration claimed he was a member of the criminal gang MS-13.
His attorneys say that Abrego Garcia, whose wife is a U.S. citizen and who has 5-year-old child and two step-children, escaped political violence in El Salvador in 2011 and is not a MS-13 member.
The Trump administration, while acknowledging that Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador in error, has said that his alleged MS-13 affiliation makes him ineligible to return to the United States.
Here is how the case has unfolded.
March 15, 2025
The Trump administration, as part of its immigration crackdown, deports three planeloads of alleged migrant gang members to El Salvador, where they are incarcerated in the notorious CECOT mega-prison under an agreement with the Salvadoran government. The alleged gang members include Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whose protected legal status precludes him from being deported to that country.
March 18, 2025
Families of several of the deported men tell ABC News that their detained relatives have no criminal record in the United States -- a fact that's acknowledged by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official, who nonetheless says that "the lack of specific information about each individual actually highlights the risk they pose" and "demonstrates that they are terrorists with regard to whom we lack a complete profile."
April 1, 2025
In a sworn declaration as part of a lawsuit brought by Abrego Garcia's attorneys, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official says Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported to El Salvador as a result of an "administrative error" -- but that he is still under a "final order of removal" for deportation, after the government rescinded his protected legal status due to his purported gang ties as alleged by a confidential police informant.
Court documents say that on March 12, Abrego Garcia was detained by ICE officers who "informed him that his immigration status had changed" due to the MS-13 allegations, after which he was transferred to a detention center in Texas and then deported to El Salvador.
April 4, 2025
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, at a hearing in Maryland, grants a preliminary injunction and orders the government to "facilitate and effectuate" the return of Abrego Garcia to the United States by midnight on April 7.
Asked by Judge Xinis under what authority law enforcement officers seized Abrego Garcia, DOJ attorney Erez Reuveni says he does not have the answer, telling the judge, "Your honor, my answer to a lot of these questions is going to be frustrating and I'm also frustrated that I have no answers for you on a lot of these questions."
April 5, 2025
A day after the hearing, the Justice Department places DOJ attorney Erez Reuveni on indefinite paid leave over a "failure to zealously advocate" for the government's interests.
April 7, 2025
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts issues a temporary administrative stay putting off Judge Xinis' midnight deadline for the government to return Abrego Garcia from El Salvador, in order to give the court more time to consider the arguments presented by both sides.
April 8, 2025
After the Trump administration, in a court filing, argues that a judge can't demand Abrego Garcia's return because a federal court can't order a president to engage in foreign diplomacy, an attorney for Abrego Garcia tells ABC News he believes the Supreme Court will rule in his client's favor.
April 9, 2025
In an interview with ABC News, Abrego Garcia's wife, a U.S. citizen, denies the Trump administration's allegation that her husband is a member of the criminal gang MS-13.
April 10, 2025
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously rules that Judge Xinis "properly requires the Government to 'facilitate' Abrego Garcia's release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador."
"The intended scope of the term 'effectuate' in the District Court's order is, however, unclear, and may exceed the District Court's authority," the court writes. "The District Court should clarify its directive, with due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs."
The Trump administration, interpreting the ruling as prohibiting the district court from ordering the executive branch to take any action that would violate the separation of powers, celebrates the order as a victory for the administration.
April 11, 2025
Saying "the Supreme Court has spoken quite clearly" that Abrego Garcia should be released from El Salvador, Judge Xinis slams the government's handling of the case and orders the Justice Department to provide her with "daily updates" on Abrego Garcia's status and their efforts to bring him back.
April 12, 2025
A State Department official, in response to Judge Xinis' demand for daily updates, tells the judge that Abrego Garcia is "alive and secure" in El Salvador's CECOT prison, but provides no information about their efforts to return him to the United States.
April 14, 2025
Attorney General Pam Bondi, in an Oval Office meeting with President Trump and the visiting El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, says that Abrego Garcia's return is "up to El Salvador," after which Bukele says, "I don't have the power to return him to the United States."
April 15, 2025
Judge Xinis, in a hearing, takes Justice Department attorneys to task over their inaction and orders government officials to testify under oath through expedited discovery in order to resolve Abrego Garcia's wrongful detention.
Prior to the hearing, a DHS official says the Trump administration is "prepared to facilitate Abrego Garcia's presence in the United States ... if he presents at a port of entry" -- but that DHS does not have the authority to forcibly extract him "from the domestic custody of a foreign sovereign nation."
April 16, 2025
The Department of Justice files notice that it will appeal Judge Xinis' ruling ordering the government to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return, and releases two documents that were previously used to allegedly tie Abrego Garcia to MS-13.
The developments come on the same day that DHS, in a social media post, shares court records showing that Abrego Garcia's wife had a month-long order of protection against him in 2021, in which she cited being slapped, hit with an object, and being detained against her will.
April 17, 2025
Slamming the government for "asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order," the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit denies the Trump administration's effort to appeal Judge Xinis' order requiring it to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return.
Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofía Gascón has found her next project following the controversy over her past offensive posts on the social platform X. Variety reports that the Oscar nominee will star as a psychiatrist who "embodies both God and the devil" in the thriller The Life Lift. The film co-stars Vincent Gallo and will be helmed by first-time director Stefania Rossella Grassi ...
The teaser trailer for season 3 of Ginny & Georgia has arrived. Netflix released the first look at the season on Thursday. In the teaser for the new season, which drops June 5 on the streaming service, Brianne Howey's Georgia is on trial after she was arrested during her wedding ...
Glen Powell is joining forces with Judd Apatow for a new original comedy. Deadline reports that the pair are working on a currently untitled film, which Apatow and Powell will write together. Apatow will direct the movie, which will be about a country-western star in free fall ...
Thousands of Palestinians displaced by Israel continue to return to their lands in the north from the south with their vehicles in Gaza on January 29, 2025. (Photo by Moiz Salhi/Anadolu via Getty Images)
(LONDON) -- In mid-January, when two U.S.-based contracting firms tapped to secure a critical vehicle checkpoint in Gaza scrambled to sign up more than a hundred ex-military operators, the packing list for prospective hires included two types of assault rifles, Glock pistols, and knives, according to a memo obtained by ABC News.
It said nothing of citrus fruits.
But from late January until mid-March, when the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal fell apart, the ex-military and intelligence officials found that humanitarian aid measures played a crucial role in ensuring their safety in one of the Middle East's most dangerous corridors, said one of the former officials who asked not to be named.
"We observed firsthand the desperation of some of the folks coming through," the official told ABC News. "So the oranges and water were a hit."
The two U.S.-based private security companies, Safe Reach Solutions and UG Solutions, were hired earlier this year by a multinational consortium of states involved in negotiating the ceasefire -- including the United States, Qatar and Egypt -- to ferry tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians back to a decimated northern Gaza, without allowing the movement of weapons.
The contractors, comprised of former Special Forces personnel, diplomats, and intelligence officers, did not face any notable confrontations or threats of violence over the course of two months on the ground in Gaza, the official said, and only confiscated a smattering of small weapons during vehicle searches.
But their mission was not without its challenges. From the time their contract was awarded, leaders of the two firms had just 96 hours to recruit, screen, and transport via chartered jet more than 100 individuals scattered across the U.S. to the Gaza Strip, where they then needed to sort out how to physically operate the checkpoint, mitigate security vulnerabilities, and minimize traffic congestion, the official said.
The model could inform future efforts to secure Gaza, some military contracting experts said.
Mick Mulroy, a former CIA paramilitary officer who is now an ABC News national security analyst, said private military contractors appear to be the only logical solution to peace in the short term.
"What is going to prevent the resurgence of Hamas? If it's not a multinational military force, and it's not the Israel Defense Forces -- it's the private security forces," said Mulroy, who is also the founder of Fogbow, a humanitarian aid group. "Right now, there's no alternative that I've seen."
Confronting the past
Hamas launched a surprise attack across Israel's southern border on Oct. 7, 2023, killing at least 1,200 Israelis while capturing about 250 Israeli hostages. Since then, Israel's military response has killed at least 50,000 Gazans, most of them women and children.
A ceasefire agreement negotiated this past January ended last month when Israel resumed hostilities after saying Hamas had not released all remaining hostages. The conflict has led to a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, including the collapse of the health care system.
Before the contractors deployed in January, a memo drafted by UG Solutions and circulated among former U.S. military personnel offered a daily rate of $1,100 for "operators" and $1,250 for medics, with a $10,000 advance paid "within 5 days of arrival in the country," according to a copy obtained by ABC News.
The memo solicited inquiries from former "U.S. [Special Operations Forces] Personnel Only," and while details of the mission were not made explicit, it noted that members of the team "will be able to defend yourself and there will be written [rules of engagement] once you arrive."
They had reason to tread carefully. The last time American contractors were hired to work in Gaza, in 2003, three employees of the security firm DynCorp were killed by a roadside bomb while escorting U.S. officials near Beit Lahiya, some 40 kilometers north of Rafah.
Despite the precarious threat environment in Gaza, the hired ex-soldiers spent a considerable portion of their time troubleshooting obstacles related to the destitution of Palestinians travelling through their checkpoint, the official said. Limited fuel supplies in the region meant officials "got really good at pushing cars," for example.
Another challenge for the two U.S.-based firms, which worked in tandem with a third Egyptian company, was to overcome the troubled reputation of security contractors working in the Middle East. Concerns about the use of American military contractors abroad exploded in 2007 when members of Blackwater, a private military company, killed 17 Iraqi civilians during an incident in Baghdad. Four of those hired soldiers were eventually convicted for their roles in the massacre, before they were later pardoned by President Donald Trump.
National security commentators have in the past bristled at the premise of using American contractors to work on the ground in Gaza. Peter Singer, the author of a book about contract soldiers, called it a "terrible idea" and a "not-even-half-baked notion" that merited heightened scrutiny. David Ignatius, the Washington Post columnist, characterized its proposal as "a potentially controversial part of the plan" to secure Gaza.
The coalition official told ABC News that U.S. operators were cognizant of the "optics of the situation" and took proactive steps to not appear "intimidating" to Gazans passing through their checkpoint. The official described their personnel as mainly ex-Special Forces with experience in the region -- "suburban dads" of an average age of 45-50.
"This was not going to be a security mission about running and gunning," the official said. "This was going to be all about discipline and restraint."
Several Gazans who used the checkpoint told ABC News that the contractors treated them with respect, often greeting motorists in halting Arabic. One Palestinian man who asked not to be named for security reasons observed that the contractors often tried to reduce the visibility of their weapons.
A 'target on their backs'
Threats posed by Hamas and other hostile actors in the region were compounded in part by Trump's rhetoric, regional experts told ABC News, which included a controversial proposal to redevelop the Gaza Strip into the "Riviera of the Middle East," displacing its population in the process. Hamas leaders said the mere suggestion was "capable of igniting the region."
Ambassador Luis Moreno, a former senior U.S. diplomat in Tel Aviv, warned that Trump's inflammatory comments likely placed a "target on their backs," referring to the American contractors.
"It's already an incredibly risky, risky job," Moreno told ABC News. "There's no doubt that Trump's declarations on moving two million Gazans out of Gaza made their lives much more complicated."
The founder of UG Solutions is Jameson Govoni, a Massachusetts-bred retired Green Beret who once said he "helped set up" a surveillance program for the Special Forces that aimed to "teach special operations soldiers how to conduct surveillance and find hard-to-find terrorist cells around the world."
Govoni later founded the Sentinel Foundation, a nonprofit focused on combating child trafficking, and a for-profit hangover cure company called Alcohol Armor, which last year hosted a David Guetta concert in Las Vegas, according to a video it shared on social media.
Safe Reach Solutions, the logistics firm in Gaza, was founded by Phil Reilly, a former CIA paramilitary officer who is no stranger to precarious missions in hostile territories. He was among the first Americans to set foot in Afghanistan after September 11, 2001 -- less than two weeks after the attacks.
The contractors concluded their work in Gaza last month when the cease-fire deal fell apart and Israeli forces resumed their bombing campaign. The Israeli Defense Forces now claim to occupy some 30% of Gaza territory.
After the ceasefire collapsed, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff suggested using a "security force" in Gaza as a long-term solution. A spokesperson for Safe Reach Solutions said they had not discussed a return to the region with American officials.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Kumar Rocker, a first-round pick in both the 2021 and ’22 drafts, won for the first time in the major leagues Thursday night.
Rocker struck out a career-best eight in a career-best seven innings and the Texas Rangers beat the Los Angeles Angels 5-3 to complete a three-game sweep.
Rocker (1-2) threw a career-high 78 pitches and allowed three runs on five hits without a walk. The 25-year-old right-hander was drafted third overall by Texas in 2022, a year after concerns over a physical led to him going unsigned by the New York Mets as the 10th overall pick. He made his big league debut in September and was 0-2 last season.
“It feels great, It felt real good,” Rocker said. “And I’m happy it happened.”
Rocker opened the season in the starting rotation with multiple Texas starters on the injured list and was rocked for six runs in three innings at Cincinnati on March 31. In his most recent outing last Saturday at Seattle, he gave up four runs, three earned, in 3 1/3 innings.
The biggest difference Thursday night was overall command — throwing 58 strikes, allowing no walks – and specifically command of his slider.
“The biggest thing — we talk about it all the time — is location,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “He had really good location tonight.”
Rocker credited catcher Kyle Higashioka with calling a good game. “And I just kept them off balance,” he said.
Most critical was his strikeout of Mike Trout to end the fifth inning with a 4-3 lead leaving runners at first and second after the Angels scored twice in the inning. Rocker threw a 1-2 four-seam fastball, and Trout’s check swing was called a strike by first base umpire Lance Barrett.
It’s possible Rocker was pitching to hold his spot in the rotation. Jack Leiter, Rocker’s former Vanderbilt University teammate, should return from the injured list soon after being sidelined by a blister.
“It shows he can do it. He can do it again,” Bochy said. “That’s a great way to get your first win, seven innings. He’s got the stuff to be a really nice major league pitcher, be a dominant one.”
Now, Rocker has a statement performance to point to – coincidentally Rocker’s first seven-inning outing since his Vandy days.
“As I’m learning and as I’m going week to week, it’s hard to do it at this level,” Rocker said. “Just keep looking at older guys, watching them do their thing and trying to stay positive and trying to stay calm.”
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Patrick Corbin’s first home start with the Texas Rangers was no better than a 50-50 possibility when the left-hander hobbled into the clubhouse Wednesday afternoon after an apparent insect bite in his backyard Monday left him with a swollen ankle.
“It was really bad in the morning,” Corbin told reporters Thursday afternoon. “I wasn’t sure if I was going to throw.”
Said manager Bruce Bochy: “He could hardly walk when he came in. I don’t know if it was a spider or what.”
Corbin said he received treatment and was able to pitch. He pitched 5 1/3 innings, allowing one run on five hits in the Rangers’ 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.
The 35-year-old Corbin was a late addition to roster, joining Texas in free agency March 18 after spending the past six seasons with the Washington Nationals.
FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Brian Schottenheimer’s first NFL draft as coach of the Dallas Cowboys comes after a run through free agency in which the club put the emphasis on defensive reinforcements.
That’s a bit of a twist for a former offensive coordinator getting ready to debut as a head coach while also calling plays for quarterback Dak Prescott.
“You look at what we did, I mean, I got Klayton Adams looking at me, ‘Hey man, I thought you were an offensive coach,’” Schottenheimer said, referring to his new offensive coordinator. “But I will say there’s a couple times that … we were making some decisions in free agency and I literally had to say, ‘Well, we need to go with this guy,’ and he was on the defensive side of the ball. But that’s what’s best for the football team.”
Similar questions will have to be answered when the Cowboys come up at No. 12 in the first round of the draft April 24. And there’s a similar theme from a year ago, when Schottenheimer was former coach Mike McCarthy’s offensive coordinator.
The Cowboys needed a running back then, but decided to stick with what they had. Dallas added Javonte Williams to start free agency this year, while letting Rico Dowdle go to Carolina after Dowdle became the first undrafted back in club history to rush for 1,000 yards.
Depth at running back is one of the primary talking points of this draft. And one of the top prospects, Heisman Trophy runner-up Ashton Jeanty of Boise State, played high school football just a few miles from the Cowboys’ team headquarters in the Dallas suburb of Frisco.
Still, there goes Schottenheimer again, talking defense.
“I think there’s a lot of depth on the defensive line. Both interior and on the edge,” Schottenheimer said. “I think there’s a lot of depth obviously with the running back position. I mean, there’s guys at every level with every different grade on them that you’re like, the difference is not that huge.”
Executive vice president of personnel Stephen Jones suggested on his radio show nine days before the draft that the Cowboys might trade down in the first round but were unlikely to move up.
That’s what Dallas did four years ago in getting star pass rusher Micah Parsons, who could be on the verge of becoming the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history.
The Cowboys had the 10th pick when they traded down to get Parsons at the exact spot where they are this year.
The depth at running back plays into the possibility of trading down to add picks for the Cowboys, who also added former Philadelphia and Carolina back Miles Sanders in free agency.
“Part of what we do in free agency is to make it to where hopefully there’s a great player sitting there with each pick that we really like and don’t want to be nailed down to, ‘Hey, it’s got to be a defensive lineman or it’s got to be a receiver or it’s got to be a linebacker or a running back,’” Jones said. “We like the two running backs we signed in free agency. We’ll see if there is a young back there as well that can help us in the draft. We’re certainly wide open to that. Just see what comes our way.”
Need
A little more than a decade ago, the Cowboys rebuilt their offensive line into one of the league’s best by drafting a blocker in the first round three times in a four-year span.
Dallas would complete a replay of that by drafting an offensive lineman in the first round after getting Tyler Smith at 24th overall in 2022 and Tyler Guyton at 29 after a trade down last year.
Such a move wouldn’t be a surprise considering six-time All-Pro right guard Zack Martin retired this offseason, pushing Dallas further into a transition up front.
While the Cowboys could comfortably name a starting five on the offensive line right now, there could be competition at multiple spots. A rookie first-rounder would ramp that up even more, and Schottenheimer has placed an emphasis on the Cowboys being more physical and trying to improve one of the NFL’s worst rushing attacks.
“If we’re not creating competition then I’m not doing my job, and the players need to understand that,” Schottenheimer said. “There’s no jobs being given out.”
The Cowboys are thin in proven receivers behind star CeeDee Lamb after letting Brandin Cooks get away in free agency, and linebacker could use help with the apparent decision not to re-sign Eric Kendricks.
Don’t need
The offseason trade for Joe Milton III took the Cowboys out of the market for a backup to Prescott. They also have Will Grier, so drafting a quarterback would appear unlikely. There’s some level of need at every other position.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The New Orleans Saints have been languishing outside the playoff picture for four years and now are hoping rookie coach Kellen Moore can improve their prospects for a return to contention.
How long the road back to relevance winds up being could hinge on how well the club uses its nine 2025 draft choices, starting with the ninth overall pick in the first round.
Entering 2017, the Saints were in a three-year playoff drought when a fruitful draft that included cornerback Marshon Lattimore, right tackle Ryan Ramczyk and running back Alvin Kamara produced a return to the postseason that same year.
By the 2018 season, the Saints were the No. 1 playoff seed in the NFC, hosted the conference title game and were perhaps one late blown call away from going to the Super Bowl. That was the second of four straight playoff seasons before New Orleans’ current drought, the start of which coincided with the retirement of record-setting quarterback Drew Brees after the 2020 season.
Now Moore has brought new schemes on offense and defense and already has begun the process of making roster moves aimed at fitting personnel to those schemes.
There have been free-agent signings of likely starters on the interior of the offensive and defensive lines (guard Dillon Radunz and nose tackle Davon Godchaux), at wide receiver (Brandin Cooks) and at defensive back (Justin Reid).
“I feel like we’re heading in the right direction,” Moore told reporters during recent NFL meetings in Palm Beach, Florida.
A good draft would help consolidate those recent gains.
Need
The Saints will need a quarterback soon, if not this year. Would-be starter Derek Carr, who has struggled with consistency and injuries during his first two seasons in New Orleans, is now 34 years old and has two years remaining on his contract. Meanwhile, Moore is an offensive play-caller who presumably would want to choose his QB eventually, but for now has inherited Carr. So it’s not all that far-fetched that the Saints could trade up in the first round to snag Miami’s Cam Ward, Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders or Mississippi’s Jaxson Dart.
The Saints have other young QBs on the roster — Jake Haener and Spencer Rattler — but they struggled as spot starters when Carr was injured last season. New Orleans also has shown pre-draft interest in Louisville’s Tyler Shough and Texas’ Quinn Ewers.
Meanwhile, the Saints top two cornerbacks entering last season are no longer on the club. They traded Lattimore and Paulson Adebo left in free agency. The Saints still have Alontae Taylor and Kool-Aid McKinstry, but could be in the market to add more depth there, and draft analysts have mentioned Michigan’s Will Johnson or East Carolina’s Shavon Revel Jr. as potential prospects for New Orleans.
The Saints offensive line was beat up last season and often struggled. The signings of Radunz and Will Clapp were meant to address that, but there could be options to draft LSU’s Will Campbell or Missouri’s Armand Membou as well.
The Saints also could use another pass-rusher to join Chase Young and Cam Jordan on the edge. Draft analysts see Georgia’s Jalon Walker as an option there.
Don’t need
With Alvin Kamara having signed an extension last season, running back is not an urgent need for New Orleans. But if Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty is available, the Saints could be tempted to take him.
At receiver, the return of Cooks to the club that drafted him in 2014 added veteran depth to a unit led by Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed.
At tight end, the Saints recently recommitted to veteran Juwan Johnson. They hope second-year pro Dallin Holker develops into a receiving threat, have veteran Foster Moreau on the roster (although he’s recovering from a late-season knee injury) and also added veteran tight end Jack Stoll in free agency. Versatile tight end Taysom Hill remains on the roster, too, and he tries to come back effectively from a major knee injury.
Demario Davis and Peter Werner are set to return as starting linebackers, reducing pressure to fill voids at that position with draft picks.
Picks aplenty
In addition to choosing ninth overall, New Orleans entered April with one second-round pick (40th overall), two third rounders (71st and 93rd), two fourth-rounders (112th and 131st), one sixth-round selection (184th), and two picks in the seventh round (248th and 254th).
That volume of picks gives the Saints the option to package some of those in trades up or down the draft board.
HOUSTON (AP) — After the beating C.J. Stroud took in Houston’s divisional playoff loss to Kansas City it was clear the team’s top offseason priority should be upgrading its offensive line.
Instead, the Texans traded five-time Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil and 2022 first-round pick left guard Kenyon Green and released right guard Shaq Mason.
They added tackle Cam Robinson and guards Ed Ingram and Laken Tomlinson, but as the NFL draft approaches their porous offensive line remains the most glaring weakness of the team.
Though the Texans won’t say that they plan to use their first-round pick (No. 25) on an offensive lineman, they’ve said plenty about the need to better protect Stroud this upcoming season. Stroud led Houston to its second straight AFC South title last season despite being sacked 52 times, which was the second most in the NFL.
“Getting better protection for C.J. is definitely a main point of emphasis for us,” coach DeMeco Ryans said. “We know when C.J. is protected, he has a clean pocket, he’s a pretty good quarterback. … He’s capable of making any throw on the football field. But it’s just a matter of protecting him and giving him that comfort when he’s in the pocket.”
General manager Nick Caserio said he doesn’t believe they have to draft an offensive lineman next week.
“We feel like we have to add good football players to our football team,” he said. “That’s what we’re focused on. Whatever those positions entail, that’s what’s going to work. That’s how we’re going to approach it and handle it.”
Houston’s pick in the first round is one of seven selections it has in this year’s draft. The Texans return to the first round this season after not having a pick in the opening round last season because of trades, including the one to move up to get defensive end Will Anderson with the third overall pick in the 2023 draft.
Though the offensive line has several holes, Houston’s top priority should be drafting the left tackle of the future.
Robinson could protect Stroud’s blind side this season to give whichever player they draft a season to develop and learn behind him.
A couple of players who could be available when the Texans pick are Kelvin Banks from Texas and Oregon’s Josh Conerly. Banks was a three-year starter for the Longhorns and won the Outland Trophy as the nation’s best interior lineman last season. Conerly started 28 games at left tackle in the past two seasons for the Ducks and was a finalist for the Joe Moore Award given to the nation’s best offensive lineman.
Pick ’em
The Texans have two picks in the third round and two in the seventh this year after receiving the 79th and 236th overall picks from the Commanders as part of the trade for Tunsil.
Needs
Along with the offensive line, the Texans could use some help at receiver. Nico Collins, who has had consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, has developed into an elite option. But the Texans need a solid second option after they moved on from Stefon Diggs after one disappointing season that ended in a season-ending injury in Week 8.
They traded for Christian Kirk, but he’s coming off a tough season where he had a career-low 379 yards before breaking his collarbone in October. The Texans also don’t know when they’ll get Tank Dell back, with the receiver still recovering from a serious knee injury he sustained in December.
Don’t need
The Texans are set at running back after signing Joe Mixon before last season and having a reliable backup in Dameon Pierce.
Draft success
While Caserio has added some stars to the team with first-round draft picks including Stroud, Anderson and cornerback Derek Stingley Jr., he’s also had a knack for finding starters beyond the first round since joining the Texans.
Caserio nabbed Collins in the third round in his first draft with Houston in 2021 and added safety Jalen Pitre in the second round in 2022. He also found starting linebackers Christian Harris in the third in 2022 and Henry To’oTo’o in the fifth in 2023.
Last year he drafted cornerback Kamari Lassiter in the second round and safety Calen Bullock in the third. In their rookie seasons, Lassiter started 14 games while Bullock started 13.
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Cornerback Tre’Davious White is rejoining the Buffalo Bills after agreeing to a one-year contract worth up to $6.8 million, the player’s agent told The Associated Press on Thursday.
Agent Kevin Conner confirmed the agreement, which was first reported by ESPN.
The 30-year-old White returns to Buffalo a year after being part of the team’s salary cap-related purge of high-priced veterans in March 2024. He went on to sign with the Los Angeles Rams, where he had four starts, before being traded in November to the Baltimore Ravens, where he appeared in seven games.
In Buffalo, White has in-depth familiarity with the defensive system, and rejoins a secondary with a starting spot open opposite Christian Benford.
White’s production and playing time was slowed by major injuries sustained in consecutive seasons.
He missed a calendar year recovering from a torn right knee ligament sustained in November 2021. White then missed the final 13 games of the 2023 season with a torn right Achilles tendon.
Otherwise, White established himself as one of the NFL’s top cornerbacks since his rookie season after being selected in the first round of the 2017 draft out of LSU. He earned first-team All-Pro honors in 2019 and was voted to the second team the following year as a member of a stingy secondary that included former starting safeties Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer.
Overall, White has 18 interceptions, all with Buffalo, and is credited with 73 passes defended in 93 games, including 86 starts.
Klay Thompson has played in 33 NBA Finals games. Been to the playoffs nine times. Has four championship rings in his collection. He knows how the big stage feels.
Don’t tell him the play-in tournament doesn’t matter.
The play-in tournament ends Friday night with a pair of elimination games, win-or-go-home matchups that will have a Game 7 feel to them. In the Eastern Conference, it’s Miami going to Atlanta. And in the Western Conference, Thompson and Dallas visit Memphis. The winners go to the playoffs. The losers are finished.
“I know it’s not the NBA Finals or conference finals,” Thompson, in his first season with the Mavericks, said after Dallas extended its season Wednesday with a win at Sacramento that eliminated the Kings. “But shoot, we’re still alive and a lot of teams aren’t.”
That’s true. Right now, 14 teams are in the playoffs, 12 teams are done for the season and four are left to decide the last two playoff spots.
“I always say it’s like March Madness,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said. “Win or go home.”
For Atlanta and Memphis, these games are a second chance after both lost games where playoff berths could have been clinched on Tuesday. For Miami and Dallas, these games are a last chance to salvage a season and make a little bit of NBA history in the process.
No play-in team has ever won two road games in the same tournament, and this format — now in its fifth year, not counting a one-game play-in that was needed inside the bubble in 2020 — has never seen teams that entered as the 10th seed get into the actual playoffs.
Miami and Dallas can change that on Friday.
“We’re only halfway there,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
The Heat and Mavericks will be trying to stave off elimination for the second time in three days, after both got road wins Wednesday to keep hope alive; Miami ousted Chicago, Dallas ousted Sacramento. The Hawks and Grizzlies — both of whom finished eighth in the standings, which doesn’t guarantee a playoff berth anymore — wasted chances to make the playoffs on Tuesday; Atlanta lost at Orlando, Memphis lost at Golden State.
“We put ourselves in a position to have two games to get into the playoffs,” Hawks guard Trae Young said after his team lost to Orlando in a game that decided the No. 7 seed in the East. “Us being in the 8 seed, if this was the old school we’d already be in the playoffs. I’m glad they give us an opportunity to go home and get another chance. … That’s pretty much it. We’ve got another chance.”
It’ll be a quick turnaround for Friday’s winners. The Atlanta-Miami winner opens the playoffs at East No. 1 Cleveland on Sunday night, while the Memphis-Dallas winner opens the playoffs at West No. 1 and top overall seed Oklahoma City on Sunday afternoon.
They won’t be complaining.
“You’re looking at the bigger goal, the bigger picture, which is the playoffs,” Heat forward Andrew Wiggins said. “We’ve got to do whatever we can. Whatever we’ve got to do, we’ve got to do in that game.”
Miami at Atlanta, Friday, 7 p.m. (TNT)
Season series: Tied, 2-2.
BetMGM Sportsbook: Hawks by 1.5.
At stake: The winner is the No. 8 seed and opens the playoffs Sunday at No. 1 Cleveland. The loser is eliminated.
Outlook: Heat could get into the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season, which would tie a club record (it has happened on two previous occasions). Hawks went 2-0 against Miami at home this season, and all four games between the teams were decided by at least 10 points. The winner will become the first East team to go to the playoffs with a losing record (in a full 82-game season) since Boston did it with a 40-42 mark in 2014-15. Atlanta won the previous play-in tournament meeting between the clubs, topping Miami 116-105 in 2023 to earn the No. 7 seed. The Heat won the elimination game that year to claim the No. 8 seed — and start a run to that season’s NBA Finals.
Dallas at Memphis, Friday, 9:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Season series: Grizzlies, 3-1.
BetMGM Sportsbook: Grizzlies by 6.5.
At stake: The winner is the No. 8 seed and opens the playoffs Sunday at No. 1 Oklahoma City. The loser is eliminated.
Outlook: Maybe it’s fitting that these two teams play the last game going into the playoffs. The Mavericks traded their franchise player in Luka Doncic in February, the Grizzlies fired their all-time winningest coach in Taylor Jenkins with nine games left in the regular season. Even after Doncic got traded, Kyrie Irving got hurt and the franchise encountered — to put it mildly — some negativity, the Mavericks need to win just one game to get back to the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Grizzlies are trying to ensure that a 48-win season doesn’t go for naught in what would be a stunning collapse. Of the other 549 teams to go 48-34 (or better) in an NBA season, 545 of them made the playoffs.
No. 2 Houston Rockets (52-30) vs. No. 7 Golden State Warriors (48-34)
Season series: Warriors, 3-2 (includes one NBA Cup game).
Story line: Experience vs. inexperience. Let’s put this into perspective. The entirety of the Rockets’ roster, combined, has 2,380 playoff points and 110 playoff starts. Golden State’s Stephen Curry — by himself — has 3,966 points in 141 playoff starts, and that doesn’t even add Jimmy Butler (2,534 playoff points, 116 playoff starts) and Draymond Green (1,825 playoff points, 140 starts) to the total. But these Rockets are confident, aggressive and hang their hat on defense. And they do have home-court advantage, which they surely think counts for something.
Key matchup: Curry vs. Amen Thompson. In the teams’ most recent meeting on April 6 in San Francisco, Thompson led an astounding defensive job on Curry — holding the greatest shooter ever to a 1-for-10 night. Expecting more 1-for-10s would be a mistake, but if the Rockets can slow Curry they’ll have a real chance.
Prediction: Warriors in 6.
No. 3 Los Angeles Lakers (50-32) vs. No. 6 Minnesota Timberwolves (49-33)
Season series: Tied, 2-2.
Story line: LeBron James and Luka Doncic, together in the playoffs for the first time. Will it be enough? The Lakers won the title in 2020 and have won only two series since then, getting ousted by Denver in 2023 and 2024 — and now having to face the team that went into Denver and won a Game 7 to end the Nuggets’ reign last season. The Timberwolves will rely on Anthony Edwards as always, and he’s shown in previous playoff runs (and last summer with USA Basketball) that he isn’t afraid of the moment.
Key matchup: The Timberwolves’ size vs. the 1-2 punch of James and Doncic. Do the Lakers have an answer for the waves of bigs — Rudy Gobert, Julius Randle, Naz Reid, etc. — inside? No. Do the Timberwolves have a way to stop both James and Doncic? Of course not, because nobody does. The team that exploits its clear advantages the most wins the series.
Prediction: Lakers in 7.
No. 4 Denver Nuggets (50-32) vs. No. 5 Los Angeles Clippers (50-32)
Season series: Tied, 2-2.
Story line: The Clippers roll into the postseason as one of the hottest teams in the NBA, winning their last eight games and 18 of their final 21. Denver won its final three after firing coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth to match the Clippers at 50-32 and got home-court advantage via a tiebreaker. Neither had it last time the teams met in the playoffs: Denver overcame a 3-1 deficit to beat the Clippers in 2020 at the Walt Disney World resort.
Key matchup: Nikola Jokic vs. Ivica Zubac. No team has an advantage at center against the Nuggets, with Jokic averaging 29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds and 10.2 assists to become the third player to average a triple-double for a season. But the Clippers would have one against many other teams after Zubac’s excellent season in which he averaged 16.8 points and 12.6 boards, leading the NBA in total rebounds.
The Dallas Stars have skidded into the playoffs on a seven-game losing streak.
Mason Marchment and other players say that skid doesn’t matter, and coach Pete DeBoer knows that the Stars will ultimately be judged on what they do in the playoffs.
“No concern,” Marchment said. “We’re not going to worry about the regular season. It’s behind us now. … We’re going to turn the page and ramp it up here.”
The Stars have no choice if they want another long playoff run after making it to the West final each of the past two seasons. Dallas, still the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, opens the postseason Saturday night with Game 1 at home against rested Central Division rival Colorado. The Avalanche finished their regular season last Sunday.
“We’ve got to figure it out. I mean, you know, Saturday’s the first time in probably three weeks where we’re playing basically with our season back on the line again,” DeBoer said. “So our desperation level has to be there, our execution has to be there. … We’ve got to make sure we’re ready for that.”
Dallas has been locked into a playoff spot since March 29, and the first-round matchup against the Avs has been anticipated for even longer than that. They met in a second-round series last year that the Stars won in six games against the then-defending Stanley Cup champions.
The Stars have gone 0-5-2 since getting their 50th win of the season April 3 at home against Nashville. They were outscored 34-18 while being outshot by an average margin of 10 a game in that stretch that culminated with a 5-1 loss at the Predators on Wednesday night.
“It doesn’t really matter. You’d like to be going into the playoffs in a different way. We went in the playoffs last year like 10-2 and lost the first two games,” Tyler Seguin said. “This year we’re going in oh-and-whatever. All that matters is the puck drop on Saturday, so we’ll move on pretty quickly.”
Streaking the wrong way
Dallas is only the ninth team in NHL history to enter the playoffs on a winless streak of at least seven games, according to SportRadar. The record of eight is shared by the 1987-88 Chicago Blackhawks and 1991-92 Montreal Canadiens.
The last team to do it was the New York Islanders with an 0-3-4 stretch to end the 2019-20 regular season that was suspended that March and never resumed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. They were part of the modified playoff that began about 4 1/2 months later in a Canadian-based bubble, and lost in the Eastern Conference Final.
Only the 2001-02 Detroit Red Wings went on to win the Stanley Cup after skidding into the postseason with that long of a winless streak — a seven-gamer than included two ties. They were also the last team before the Islanders to even make the playoffs with that kind of finish to the regular season.
Stars injuries
Seguin returned for the Stars’ regular-season finale after missing 58 games following hip surgery in early December. He had the secondary assist on Marchment’s goal only 16 seconds into the loss at Nashville.
The 33-year-old Seguin has 21 points (nine goals, 12 assists) in the 20 games he has played this season.
In the same game that their six-time All-Star returned to the lineup, top goal scorer Jason Robertson (35 goals) played only six minutes before exiting with a lower body injury. His status for the playoff opener is uncertain.
Dallas is still without standout defenseman Miro Heiskanen, who missed the last 32 regular-season games since after injuring is left knee against Vegas on Jan. 28. He later had surgery and hasn’t yet returned to practice.
The puck drops on the first round of the NHL playoffs Saturday when Winnipeg hosts St. Louis followed by the must-see matchup of Colorado and Dallas.
The other six series get going next week, from the Toronto-Ottawa Battle of Ontario to Tuesday’s opener of another cross-state showdown between Tampa Bay and defending champion Florida.
An infusion of young talent fresh to the league in recent weeks, a handful of veterans in their mid-to-late 30s chasing the Stanley Cup and the best goaltender in the league this season looking to change his reputation are among the things to watch as the playoffs unfold.
“There’s a million different storylines that I love,” retired tough guy Paul Bissonnette said.
New guys
Just like Chris Kreider did for the New York Rangers in 2012, Tom Wilson for Washington in 2013 and Cale Makar for Colorado in 2019, a handful of teams have added top prospects just in time to make a difference at the most important time of year.
The class of 2025 is headlined by Montreal’s Ivan Demidov, St. Louis’ Jimmy Snuggerud, Minnesota’s Zeev Buium and Washington’s Ryan Leonard. The hype around Demidov — one podcast even had a livestream of him arriving off his flight into Canada — has been the hottest because the 19-year-old Russian winger was considered the best young player not in the NHL.
“There’s a 19-year-old kid that played his first game (Monday night), Ivan Demidov,” longtime forward-turned-ESPN color analyst Ray Ferraro said. “He scored a goal and an assist. The building almost fell over in Montreal. It was amazing to watch.”
Snuggerud got his first goal for the Blues on Tuesday night. Leonard slid his into an empty net the same night Alex Ovechkin tied Wayne Gretzky’s record. Buium debuted in the Wild’s season finale.
“Not only Demidov but also Ryan Leonard coming in, Buium, it just seems like this young wave of players (are) getting to come in and potentially make an impact,” said Bissonnette, now an NHL analyst on TNT.
Demidov and Leonard will face off in the Canadiens-Capitals first-round series.
Older guys
Blues defenseman Ryan Suter is 39 and has played 1,526 regular-season games — the most of anyone currently in the NHL who has not won the Stanley Cup. Carolina’s Brent Burns, also 39, is next at 1,496.
Suter’s team is a long shot to win it all. Burns’ team has a better shot at getting through the East to have a chance at the Cup. There’s also Ottawa’s Claude Giroux at 36 and 1,262 games played and Dallas’ Jamie Benn at 35 and 1,192 games hoping to finally reach hockey’s mountaintop.
“One that I’d love to see win is Jamie Benn,” said 2003 Cup champion Mike Rupp, who now works for NHL Network. “He’s had some really good years. He’s had some years where he’s been in question and he’s been through some stuff as far as just, ‘Is that a good contract? Does he still have anything left in the tank?’ And I thought he’s really answered that the last few years.”
Want some other greybeards without a ring? Toronto’s Max Pacioretty, Minnesota’s Mats Zuccarello and Tampa Bay’s Luke Glendening and Cam Atkinson all fit the bill.
‘Helly’ in the spotlight
Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck just finished a second consecutive season that should win him the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s best goaltender, which would be his third. He went 47-12-3 with a league-best 2.00 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage that’s the highest of any netminder with more than 35 starts.
He also might win the Hart Trophy as MVP. But now his play is really in the spotlight after developing a recent reputation for turning into a different (worse) goalie in April.
Hellebuyck over the past two playoffs has a 4.28 GAA and an .875 save percentage, which is the worst of anyone in that time with at least 10 appearances.
“I think the book is still out,” Bissonnette said. “If he’s able to get past that first round, it’ll do a lot for his psyche and his confidence, so if I’m a betting man, I’m betting on Hellebuyck this playoffs.”
Injury concerns
Even before the grinding toll of the playoffs gets underway, the wear and tear of the regular season and some bad luck has caused some injuries that could tip the balance of series.
The Stars won’t have No. 1 defenseman Miro Heiskanen for at least the start of their series against the Avalanche, more than two months since he had knee surgery. There’s also concern about scorer Jason Robertson, who left the regular-season finale with an apparent right leg or knee injury.
“Heiskanen makes such a huge difference on that back end.” TNT’s Anson Carter said. “When you have to go against (Nathan) MacKinnon every single night and have (Cale) Makar coming down the other way, you want to have someone that could equalize that. … You can’t replace a Heiskanen.”
The Capitals have their own questions, since starting goaltender Logan Thompson and 30-goal-scoring forward Aliaksei Protas were injured in early April. Edmonton won’t have top defenseman Mattias Ekholm for at least the first round, the Oilers’ fourth consecutive year opening the playoffs against Los Angeles.
