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Cameron Jordan shares how Saints teammates must embrace new HC Kellen Moore
Shortly after Kellen Moore helped the Philadelphia Eagles win Super Bowl LIX while serving as their offensive coordinator, the New Orleans Saints officially hired him to be their next head coach.
During a Wednesday appearance on "The Jim Rome Show," Saints pass-rusher Cameron Jordan discussed how he and his teammates can make life easier for Moore as he prepares to lead an NFL training camp as a head coach for the first time.
"Anytime you have a head coach -- young, old, indifferent -- you gotta be able to buy into the message," Jordan explained, as shared by Kevin Patra of the NFL's website. "The message is clear: Let's have fun. Let's clean up all our missions. That's knowing your technique, knowing your abilities and knowing where you're going to be, knowing where your teammates are. I think the message has been loud and clear."
It now seems that Dennis Allen, New Orleans' previous full-time head coach, first lost members of the locker room all the way back in Week 18 of the 2023 season. He was then shown the door this past November when the 2024 Saints were 2-7.
While Moore is a rookie head coach, he's no stranger to NFL sidelines. He was a quarterback in the league, mostly as a backup, before he worked as offensive coordinator with the Dallas Cowboys from 2019 through the 2022 campaign. He then held that role with the Los Angeles Chargers for the following season, but he undeniably did his best work with Philadelphia.
Playing under Moore, Eagles running back Saquon Barkley earned NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award honors. Quarterback Jalen Hurts was later named the MVP of Super Bowl LIX after the Eagles crushed the Kansas City Chiefs to the tune of 40-22.
"He's become an offensive coordinator at multiple places," Jordan added about Moore. "He's worked his way through the ranks, and now he's a head coach. He's coming with a plan, a clear, direct plan. A directive, as well as a cabinet of coaches that I think have had a myriad versions of success. When you have a strong coaching staff, I think it puts you in a position to excel."
Moore will face a significant test early into his Saints tenure, as it appears starting quarterback Derek Carr could miss at least a portion of the upcoming season because of a shoulder injury. Louisville's Tyler Shough, the 40th overall pick of the 2025 NFL Draft, could enter training camp as the favorite to win a competition for the New Orleans starting job that would also involve 2024 fifth-round pick Spencer Rattler and 2023 fourth-round choice Jake Haener.
More must-reads:
- Expert explains why Saints shouldn't have drafted QB Tyler Shough
- Would Jets have drafted Saints' Tyler Shough at pick No. 42?
- The 'No. 3 overall pick in every NFL Draft since 2000' quiz
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Browns insider addresses if Shedeur Sanders 'beat out' Dillon Gabriel at rookie minicamp
It didn't take long for the so-called "silly season" portion of evaluating Cleveland Browns quarterbacks to get underway. Observers couldn't even agree on whether or not fifth-round draft pick Shedeur Sanders or third-round choice Dillon Gabriel produced the better performances during the club's rookie minicamp last weekend. Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer addressed the matter for a piece published on Friday. "[Sanders] didn’t beat out Gabriel hands-down like some have reported — it was much closer to a tie — but he looked very good and more than held his own," Cabot wrote. "It was a great start for both, and a nice base on which to build their case in the QB derby..." Former NFL running back/current analyst LeSean McCoy and The Athletic’s Zac Jackson previously said that Sanders looked "like the best player" at the Browns' rookie minicamp and that it was "not close." However, Tony Grossi of ESPN Cleveland/The Land on Demand later made it known he felt Gabriel looked like the better signal-caller. While the Browns are allegedly holding an open four-way competition for their starting quarterback job that will run through a portion of August, most expect that head coach Kevin Stefanski will name either Joe Flacco or Kenny Pickett Cleveland's Week 1 QB1. The Browns could trade or cut the loser of the Flacco-Pickett battle so they can have both Gabriel and Sanders on their active roster come September. "Both players put surprisingly few passes on the ground considering they were throwing to mostly tryout players whom they had met the day before," Cabot added about how Sanders and Gabriel performed during rookie minicamp. "...Both quarterbacks made good decisions and were accurate most of the time. Their footwork on dropbacks looked smooth, and they looked comfortable working under center as well as out of the shotgun. Sanders had to recover from one errant snap, but quickly scooped the ball and made the play." Of the two rookies, Sanders undeniably has more star power and the bigger presence as it pertains to generating headlines. Many outsiders believed Sanders was a first-round talent, but it's now known that his handling of the predraft process impacted how he was viewed by teams around the league. Meanwhile, analysts predicted ahead of the draft that Gabriel would be a third-day selection. If nothing else, both Sanders and Gabriel should already have a better idea about what it means to take part in a quarterback competition as members of a franchise that has been searching for a long-term answer at the sport's most important position since it returned to the NFL in 1999.
Three-time All-Star announces retirement from baseball
Veteran infielder Matt Carpenter announced his retirement on Sports Spectrum’s "Get In The Game" podcast (h/t to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch) Wednesday. He hangs up his spikes after 14 years in the majors. “I wanted to take this opportunity on this podcast, here with you, and officially announce my retirement from baseball. I was very fortunate enough to play for some great organizations, and had quite a thrill being able to don the St. Louis Cardinals logo for many years, a brief stint with the New York Yankees, and also the San Diego Padres," Carpenter told former MLB pitcher Scott Linebrink. Carpenter went on to thank his family, before adding that he’s “excited for what’s next. A veteran of 14 MLB seasons, Carpenter was open to continuing his career in 2025 as recently as this past September. That was following a season with the Cardinals where he battled injuries and struck out at a 32.5 percent clip but still produced a roughly average 95 wRC+ across 157 plate appearances in a part-time role. That sort of production was enough to make Carpenter a solid bench piece, though with the Cardinals’ pivot toward providing young players more opportunities this year, a reunion between the 39-year-old and his longtime club wasn’t in the cards. As Carpenter mentioned, he was wearing Cardinal red for most of his career. The Cards selected him in the 13th round of the 2009 draft. He made it to the big leagues in 2011, the year of the club’s most recent World Series win, but he was a footnote in that season. He was selected to the roster in June and optioned back to the minors after a seven-game cup of coffee. His major league career began in earnest in 2012. As a 26-year-old rookie that year, Carpenter took to hitting in the majors almost right away. He hit an impressive .294/.365/.463 in 114 games while splitting time between first base, second base, third base, and both outfield corners. That show of versatility was enough to earn Carpenter a sixth-place finish in Rookie of the Year voting despite the fact that he had yet to generate the type of power he would later in his career, clubbing just six homers in 340 trips to the plate. He also hit .286/.412/.571 in playoff games, though the Cards were felled by the Giants in the NLCS. He took a step forward in 2013 and had arguably his best season. He almost doubled his power output, getting to 11 home runs. He walked at a 10 percent clip and only struck out 13.7 percent of the time. That led to a .318/.392/.481 slash and 146 wRC+. He was selected to the All-Star team for the first time. FanGraphs credits him with 7.2 wins above replacement for that season, his personal best by a good margin. He finished fourth in National League Most Valuable Player voting. Carpenter didn’t perform especially well in the postseason that year, hitting .217/.263/.290, but the Cards made it as far as the World Series, losing to the Red Sox in six games. The Cards then locked him up on an extension which would pay him $52M over the 2014 to 2019 seasons and keep him in St. Louis into his mid-30s. Over the rest of the decade, his production shifted slightly, with a bit more power but a bit less on-base ability. The aggregate was roughly similar though, making him a very useful player as he bounced around the infield. From 2015-18, he hit between 21 and 36 home runs in each season, totaling 108 long balls in that four-year stretch. He slashed a combined .260/.376/.497 for that span, leading to a 135 wRC+. In April of 2019, as Carpenter was entering the final guaranteed year of his deal, he and the Cards agreed to another extension. This one would pay him $39M over the 2020 and 2021 seasons. However, that ultimately proved to be a misstep for the club, as Carpenter’s production declined over those next few years. His wRC+ finished at 96 in 2019, then 85 in the shortened 2020 campaign, before going all the way down to 68 in 2021. The Cards could have retained Carpenter for 2022 via an $18.5M club option, but with his declining results, the $2M buyout was the easy call. That sent him to free agency for the first time in his career, ahead of his age-36 season. Though many had written him off at that point, Carpenter was able to engineer a brief but brilliant renaissance. Thanks to some help from Joey Votto, as reported by Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, Carpenter worked to revamp his swing. He signed a minor league deal with the Rangers and clubbed six home runs in 21 games for their Triple-A club. Despite the strong results, the Rangers released him. The Yankees gave Carpenter a major league deal, which paid off immediately. He hit 15 home runs in just 47 games for the Yanks, while also walking at a 12.3 percent pace. Unfortunately, that amazing run was cut short when Carpenter fouled a ball off his foot in August. He suffered a fracture and missed the rest of the regular season. He was activated for the playoffs but struck out in nine of his 12 plate appearances. His regular season line for that year finished at .305/.412/.727, translating to a 216 wRC+. Though it was cut short by injury, the Padres bought into Carpenter’s return to form. They signed him to a two-year, $12M deal going into 2023, but that bet didn’t pay off. Carpenter slashed .176/.322/.319 for the Friars that year. He was traded to Atlanta ahead of the 2024 season in what was clearly a salary dump deal, as Atlanta released him shortly thereafter. He returned to the Cardinals and, as mentioned, had a serviceable season as a role player. That will now go down as his final big league season. All told, Carpenter got into 1,511 games and stepped to the plate 5,773 times. He had 1,257 hits, including 179 home runs. He scored 813 runs and drove in 659. He walked in 13.4 percent of his plate appearances, helping him slash .259/.366/.449 for a 125 wRC+. He produced 31.5 fWAR and 28.7bWAR, making three All-Star teams along the way. Baseball Reference pegs his career earnings at just over the $100M mark.
Kristaps Porzingis has surprising admission about losing to Knicks
Kristaps Porzingis had mixed emotions after his Boston Celtics' season ended at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Porzingis has been dealing with a mysterious illness that sapped his effectiveness throughout the Celtics-Knicks second-round series. On Friday, the Latvian came off the bench and played just 11 minutes in Boston’s 119-81 loss in Game 6. With New York coasting to an easy series-clinching win, the rabid Knicks fan base chanted to support its players all game. Not too long ago, Porzingis was among the players Knicks fans were showering with similar cheers. Porzingis was asked about the Knicks fan base after the game. “Honestly, the support from the Knicks fans was through the roof tonight and all throughout the playoffs,” Kristaps told reporters. “Unbelievable fans, unbelievable city, and there’s a side of me that’s very, very happy for them. I wish them nothing but the best.” Porzingis emerged as a potential franchise player for the Knicks during the mid-2010s. The sweet-shooting shot-blocker dubbed “The Unicorn” had fans believing anything was possible then. But injuries and internal squabbles eventually pushed Porzingis to push for a trade away from New York. Porzingis later ended up in a terrific situation in Boston, becoming an integral piece to their championship puzzle during the Celtics’ 2024 title run. But in an alternate universe, perhaps Porzingis could have been the man to lead the New York hoops renaissance instead of Jalen Brunson.
New details emerge on USC coach Lincoln Riley's salary
Lincoln Riley has not enjoyed the type of success that USC was hoping for in his first three seasons as the school’s head football coach, but he is certainly being compensated as though few people are better at the job. Riley made slightly more than $11.5 million during the 2023 season, according to public documents reviewed by Steve Berkowitz of USA Today. It had been reported that Riley became one of the highest-paid coaches in college football when he was hired by USC ahead of the 2022 season, but the tax return documents are the first full look at Riley’s compensation. Roughly $10.2 million of Riley’s compensation for 2023 was categorized as base pay, with another $100,000 in incentives and $1.15 million classified as “other reported compensation.” Riley also has a housing loan with a balance due of $3.43 million, though the balance is the same as the original loan amount. Riley was listed as having $19.7 million in compensation in his first year as the head coach at USC in 2022. The $4.5 million buyout USC paid to Oklahoma was taxable income for Riley, though USC footed the bill. All of that is a long way of saying Riley makes a lot of money at USC. As Berkowitz notes, the $10.2 million base salary is believed to make Riley the fourth-highest-paid coach in college football, though the salaries of coaches at private universities are not made public. USC is undoubtedly hoping for more return on its investment going forward. Riley has been disappointing, 26-14 in three seasons with the school. The Trojans went 7-6 last year. There has been talk of other schools pursuing Riley, but the 41-year-old’s job appears safe for now. If USC has another disappointing year in 2025 and does not show improvement, the calls for Riley's firing might become difficult for the Trojans to ignore.
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