METAIRIE, La. -- New Orleans Saints head coach Kellen Moore didn't make a firm commitment to quarterback Derek Carr in his introductory news conference Thursday.

"Derek's a tremendous quarterback in this league. I've had so much respect for him, the journey that he's been on, he's a starter in this league," Moore said. "He's a premier player in this league. ... Really excited to team up with him and go through this process and so just like any player on this roster, I just got here a few days ago and I'm excited to go through this journey with all of them."

Moore, 36, is the youngest head coach in the league and inherits a team that is expected to be significantly over the 2025 salary cap, although that number has not been set yet. The Saints must get cap compliant by the start of free agency on March 12, which includes addressing Carr's $51.4 million salary cap figure.

Moore called Carr a "tremendous starting quarterback in his league" when asked whether he felt the team had a decision to make at the position.

"We're fortunate to have him and we're excited to go through this process as we build this roster together," Moore said. "Again, I'm meeting these guys for the first time the last few days, really excited to meet more of them. This will be a lot of fun."

Moore said he hasn't met most of the players and staff members after officially accepting the job Tuesday.

Moore is coming off a one-year stint as the Philadelphia Eagles' offensive coordinator and a win in Super Bowl LIX. He said he plans to call plays in New Orleans and utilize motion and tempo.

"We like to use a lot of tempo every place that I've been," Moore said. "We'll use shifts and motions when we huddle, but we want to stress the defense. Now whether we have to throw it 50 times or run it 50 times, I really don't care, however we've got to win a football game. We'll do that based off who we have available to us and who's on our roster, but we want to be a team that stresses the defense, challenges them, utilizes our entire roster, the depth that we have and take advantage of all these different players' superpowers."

Moore worked with Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, who led the league with 2,005 rushing yards this season. In New Orleans, Moore will have running back Alvin Kamara, who just signed a contract extension in the fall.

"Tons of respect for Alvin as a player," Moore said. "Obviously one of the premier players in our league, his ability to play in the pass game and the run game, all the different versatile roles that he can play. A lot of people for a long time have been looking, 'How can we find an Alvin on our football team?' And so that's been a really important piece. It'll continue to be a really important piece. We're really fortunate to have him."

The Eagles beat the Saints 15-12 in Week 3 this season, and Moore said the win showed him the talent on his new roster and that he absolutely feels they are still contenders.

"Obviously injuries were a challenge this year and those things sometimes are challenging and uncontrollable circumstances and so we recognize there's so much good going on here," Moore said. "We want to embrace the good, don't lose any of the good while building this thing the right way."

Moore said, "It's a collaborative effort," when asked whether he'll be involved in the roster-building process, but didn't say whether or not he feels the team needs to rebuild this year.

"I think certainly we're going to compete for this division," he said. "We have a great opportunity in the NFC South and we're going to focus on that while building this team the right way."

Pat Riley's three-peat trademarks could have led to the Miami Heat president getting a sizable payday if the Kansas City Chiefs had won their third consecutive Super Bowl.

Turns out, the Basketball Hall of Famer doesn't keep that money.

Riley said he devotes his share of revenues gleaned from "three-peat" usage -- he has had trademarks on that term for about 35 years -- to various charitable organizations. Of particular importance to Riley and his wife, Chris Riley, are groups that help military veterans and their families, including the Special Operations Warrior Foundation in Tampa, Florida.

Riley has said the donations he and the Heat make to veterans' groups are "very minor in comparison to what they deserve."

"These are very patriotic, brave and proud people," Riley said Wednesday. "What they do in serving our country to keep us safe is one of the most courageous sacrifices an American can offer."

Riley and the Heat created what the team has called the "HomeStrong" initiative 20 years ago, and the team has routinely welcomed returning soldiers and first responders to Miami games over those two decades, plus further honor them with an on-court pregame ceremony. Riley also took the team's training camp in 2010 to military bases in northwest Florida.

The Special Operations Warrior Foundation -- which has received $200,000 in recent years from Riley and his wife, plus another $100,000 that a Heat donor earmarked to the charity of Riley's choice -- honors fallen soldiers and Medal of Honor recipients with grants for education as part of what it calls a "cradle to career" plan that backs the children of those soldiers from preschool through college.

It also provides financial grants to severely combat-wounded, ill, and injured Special Operations soldiers in need of medical care.

Riley has owned multiple "three-peat" trademarks since beginning to file for them in the late 1980s, when the Los Angeles Lakers -- who he was coaching at that time -- were seeking three consecutive NBA titles.

Riley struck a deal with the Chiefs on three-peat usage, just in case Kansas City had won its third straight Super Bowl. The Chiefs lost to Philadelphia 40-22 on Sunday, ending the three-peat bid.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra and some players half-seriously said before the Super Bowl that they were rooting for the Chiefs, with hopes that Riley would gift the team with some wine. But Spoelstra added that there is obviously a deeper meaning, one that Riley has kept largely private.

"There's a great story to it," Spoelstra said.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- Orioles left-hander Trevor Rogers isn't expected to be ready for Opening Day after a partial dislocation of his right kneecap during the offseason, Baltimore general manager Mike Elias said Thursday.

Elias told reporters at Orioles camp that Rogers sustained the knee subluxation in January. It wasn't clear exactly when or how Rogers sustained the injury. The pitcher is playing catch with the team in Florida but is significantly behind schedule.

Baltimore acquired the former All-Star lefty and first-round draft pick from Miami in a deadline trade for two top prospects this past July. Rogers was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk just three weeks later after going 0-2 with a 7.11 ERA in four starts. He allowed 25 hits and 15 earned runs over 19 innings.

Rogers provided a left-handed option for the Orioles' rotation, though the team seems set for now with five right-handers. Offseason additions Charlie Morton and Tomoyuki Sugano have joined returners Zach Eflin, Dean Kremer and Grayson Rodriguez.

The 27-year-old Rogers has a 15-34 record with a 4.36 ERA in 84 big league starts, the first 80 with the Marlins from 2020 until the trade this past summer. Miami drafted with the 13th overall pick in the 2017 amateur draft out of Carlsbad High School in New Mexico.

Rogers was an All-Star in 2021, the same season that he finished as the runner-up behind Cincinnati's Jonathan India for National League Rookie of the Year. He was 7-8 with a 2.64 ERA in 25 starts that year and struck out 157 batters in 133 innings.

Elias said second baseman Jorge Mateo, recovering from left elbow surgery on his non-throwing arm in late August, also likely wouldn't be ready for the March 27 opener at Toronto even though he is playing catch and taking part in hitting progression.

Mateo got hurt July 23 in a game against Miami when he collided with shortstop Gunnar Henderson as they both dove for a grounder behind the second base bag.

The Orioles and the 29-year-old Mateo avoided a salary arbitration hearing when he agreed to a $3.55 million, one-year contract in January. The deal includes a $5.5 million team option for 2026. The option could increase by $500,000 based on plate appearances in 2025: $125,000 each for 460, 480, 500 and 520.

NORTH PORT, Fla. -- Braves star outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. took batting practice at spring training Thursday, and right-hander Spencer Strider has already thrown a side session this week at their Florida camp.

While neither Acuna, the unanimous 2023 NL MVP, nor Strider, a 20-game winner from that same season, are expected to be ready for Atlanta's opener while recovering from injuries, manager Brian Snitker said both are making good progress to be ready early this season.

"We're going to make two really big trades at some point in time early in the season and get, you know, an All-Star and a potential Cy Young Award winner back," Snitker told MLB Network.

Snitker said both players are on their own programs "because they are still in rehab."

Acuna tore his left ACL on May 26, and the 27-year-old slugger had surgery on June 6. The 26-year-old Strider had internal brace surgery last April to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow.

Along with BP on the field with teammates, Acuna has run sprints multiple times in the outfield already at camp.

"Ronald's doing everything. You know, he hasn't done a lot of the cutting and things like that," Snitker said. "But, you know, I've seen him in Atlanta before I came down. And as you're seeing right now, I mean, he's doing great. I mean, he's checking all the boxes. He looks great."

Strider threw a side session Wednesday, the first official day of workout for Braves pitchers and catchers. He was 20-5 with a 3.86 ERA in 32 starts in 2023, when he led the league with 281 strikeouts.

"The ball's coming out really good," Snitker told MLB Network.

Acuna hit .337 with 41 homers, 106 RBIs and 73 stolen bases in 2023, when he became the first player in baseball history to hit 40 homers and steal 70 bases while Atlanta won its sixth NL East title in a row.

He played only 49 games last season before sustaining a complete ACL tear on May 26. He had a double in the first inning of that game, and his knee gave way when he stopped on a stolen base attempt to return to second base.

Acuna tore his right ACL on July 20, 2021, and returned the following April.

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Clayton Kershaw admittedly wasn't prepared for what foot surgery would entail. He spent four weeks on crutches and another four weeks in a walking boot. For more than a month, every step brought with it excruciating pain.

Being a normal dad to his four children was difficult. And yet Kershaw, who has contemplated retirement for years now, went through a painstaking rehab for the chance to pitch again this summer, even though his Los Angeles Dodgers had just secured another championship.

This time, retirement wasn't even entertained.

"I hope this is the last time I have to rehab -- I'm kind of done with that -- but at the same time, I don't want that to be the reason that I stop playing," Kershaw said after Thursday's workout.

"I don't want to be, 'I just can't do it hurt,' you know? Hopefully I can walk out on my own terms, whenever that is. But it just didn't feel like it was the right time, even though we won. Being on the shelf for that wasn't the way that I had scripted it out. Still super thankful to be a part of it last year and get to see everything, but I want to be out there when it happens."

Kershaw, who will celebrate his 37th birthday on March 19, underwent shoulder surgery in November of 2023, made his way back into the Dodgers' rotation in late July of the following summer, made seven starts, aggravated a long-standing toe injury and didn't pitch again, sitting idly by in October.

Shortly after the Dodgers secured their second championship in five years -- and their first in a full season since 1988 -- Kershaw underwent surgery to address a bone spur and a ruptured plantar plate in his left foot, as well as a procedure to remedy a meniscus tear in his left knee.

Rehabbing the former proved to be far more difficult than rehabbing the latter. The Dodgers saved a roster spot for him nonetheless, waiting for Kershaw to gain more clarity on his timeline before finalizing a contract. His new deal -- with a guarantee of $7.5 million and a host of incentives -- was agreed to on Tuesday and became official on Thursday.

In recent years, Kershaw has toyed with the idea of finishing his career with his hometown Texas Rangers, who employ Chris Young, one of his best friends, as president of baseball operations.

That is no longer the case.

"I'm a Dodger," Kershaw said. "I'm so thankful for this organization. I don't think I put enough merit on it at times, at what it means to be able to be in one organization for your entire career. You look at people throughout all of sports that have been able to do that, and it is special. It is. I don't want to lose sight of that. Getting to be here for my whole career, however long that is, is definitely a goal. Thankful that I get to continue this journey."

Kershaw has been walking on his own for roughly six weeks and was able to begin running when he reported to Camelback Ranch earlier this week. Kershaw is currently only able to long-toss, but he anticipates throwing bullpen sessions at some point next month and alluded to making it back into the rotation at some point in late May or early June. At that point, he'll slot somewhere within a loaded rotation featuring Blake Snell, Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki.

Whether this is his last year remains to be seen.

"It's been year to year for a number of years now," said Kershaw, whose last multiyear contract expired after the 2021 season. "We'll just see how it goes at the end of this year."

After finishing an eight-minute scrum with the media, Kershaw grabbed his rolling suitcase and went back to Highland Park, Texas, where he will continue his rehab. He anticipates being back and forth between the team and his home until getting into the late stages of his rehab, similar to how he navigated last year.

It wasn't necessarily planned this way, but at this point, he appreciates it.

"From a family perspective, I'm very thankful that I get to go home a little bit at the beginning of the season and get to do the school stuff," Kershaw said. "Cali's in fourth grade, and it's getting harder to leave; she's actually learning stuff. So it is a little bit harder to leave home and stuff like that. But at the same time, it's not by design. I'm not even going to think about next year, but, if I was healthy, it wouldn't be that way."

TAMPA, Fla. -- New York Yankees right-hander Marcus Stroman, the subject of trade rumors in recent months and currently the odd man out of the team's rotation, did not participate in the first two spring training workouts. He stayed away from camp after reporting for his physical Tuesday.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he "had an idea" that Stroman would miss workouts Wednesday and Thursday after speaking with the pitcher earlier in the week. Boone said he was in communication with him both Wednesday night and Thursday morning, declining to divulge Stroman's reasoning for the absence.

"I'm not going to speak for him," Boone said. "You can ask him for the reasons. I want him here, obviously, but we also have to respect the rules that are set up."

Major League Baseball's collective bargaining agreement stipulates that players are not obligated to report for spring training until Feb. 22. Boone said he anticipates Stroman will join the team in the next couple of days, though he declined to share the specific date.

"He's a prideful player," Boone said. "He's a guy that's had a great career. It's a little bit of an awkward situation, obviously. So of course I want him here, and I'm trying to keep nudging him to get here. But, again, you also have to respect the fact that this is something players are allowed to do. There's a mandatory date and he's choosing that right now."

Stroman, 33, does not project to make the Yankees' five-man rotation -- a group that includes Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, Clarke Schmidt and Luis Gil -- and is owed $18.5 million this season with an $18 million player option for 2026 should he log at least 140 innings in 2025. The Yankees, as a result, have tried trading the two-time All-Star to shed his salary, sources told ESPN.

"There's always rumors -- false, true -- and, frankly, that's usually above me anyway until something is real," Boone said. "So, no, we didn't get into that at all other than to acknowledge that there's been, obviously, the noise and the situation that he walks into and having six, seven, eight starters, all that. He's ready to compete."

Stroman recorded a 4.31 ERA in 30 appearances (29 starts) across 154 2/3 innings in his first season with the Yankees and 10th as a big leaguer. The veteran did not throw a pitch in the Yankees' 14-game playoff run to the World Series after being left off their American League Division Series and World Series rosters but put on the AL Championship Series roster.

"This is a guy that's been an outstanding pitcher in this league for a long time with a lot of pride," Boone said. "But, no, I don't sense any animus between he and I, and I'm confident and comfortable that he's ready to come in here and do his job at a high level."

As for whether he believes Stroman's decision will bother teammates, Boone said he will "pay attention to it."

"It doesn't change my opinion of Marcus," Cole said. "I like him."

In other news from Yankees camp, Cole, who is nearly a year removed from sustaining an elbow injury that sidelined him until late June, said he felt good after throwing touching 95 mph three times during a 25-pitch live bullpen session Thursday.

"A lot of strikes; some good shapes, too," Cole said.

Cole said he's healthy and ahead of schedule in his throwing program compared to recent years.

Also, prospect Eric Reyzelman was discharged from a local hospital Thursday morning after he was kept overnight following an allergic reaction.

"He came in here today in good spirits," Boone said.

Reyzelman, 23, is a non-roster invitee in major-league camp after recording a 1.93 ERA in 21 games across three minor league levels last season.

Assistant coach Rob Howley has left the Wales set-up as interim boss Matt Sherratt makes changes to his squad and staff.

Sherratt has been appointed for the remaining three games of the Six Nations after Warren Gatland left his head coach role following a record run of 14 consecutive Test defeats.

Howley was a long-time assistant of Gatland's and has followed the New Zealander in departing, although the Welsh Rugby Union says he will remain under contract despite stepping aside for the rest of the Six Nations.

Cardiff head coach Sherratt has also called up three players who he has worked with in the Welsh capital, fly-halves Jarrod Evans and Gareth Anscombe, and centre Max Llewellyn.

Harlequins 10 Evans and Gloucester pair Anscombe and Llewellyn were all notable absentees in Gatland's original Wales squad for this Six Nations.

But there is a need for reinforcements as full-back Liam Williams and centre Owen Watkin have been released from the squad following knee injuries.

Evans and Anscombe will add to Wales' limited options at fly-half, with Ospreys youngster Dan Edwards the only genuine 10 in the squad as Cardiff's Ben Thomas has been asked to play there despite playing for his club at 12.

One of the main criticisms of Sweeney's bonus was the metrics used to calculate it.

On one metric he scored 75% on "win ratio of men and women's senior teams", which was a blended percentage massively bolstered by the performance of the successful Red Roses team.

However, the review concluded: "We do not think that the apparent overlap in some of the performance conditions is problematic, and consider the metrics selected to be objectively acceptable."

It added that had the "reasonable" LTIP bonus scheme not been paid it would have had "a detrimental effect" on not only the retention of the current executives but also the RFU's ability to recruit future talent.

While Sweeney's annual basic pay has risen from 430,000 to 742,000 over the five years he has been in charge, the review found his pay was "not competitive" compared with corporate roles, even at the lower end of the FTSE 250 Index.

However, it found the chief executive's total compensation was competitive in comparison with other UK national governing bodies.

Meanwhile, former World Rugby chairman and England captain Sir Bill Beaumont, 72, has stepped in as chairman pending the appointment of a permanent replacement.

The review did make recommendations, including a move to make the RFU's Executive Remuneration Policy public for greater transparency and accountability.

RFU president Rob Udwin said he was pleased the report recognised the implementation of an LTIP was "appropriate in the circumstances".

"There are some specific recommendations and wider observations on the governance structure, the roles of Council Members on the Board and Committees, and the communication routes between the Executive, Board, Council and wider game," said Udwin.

"It is important to recognise these, and they will feed into and inform the current Governance and Representation Review, and the Communications Review that was agreed with Council in December."