After 20 weeks of NFL action, four teams are still alive in the hunt for Super Bowl 60.

On Sunday, the AFC title will be decided by the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots. The NFC comes down to divisional foes Los Angeles and Seattle to decide who will represent the conference in the Super Bowl.

The rest of the league is sitting at home with the rest of us watching this play out and working behind the scenes on coaching searches, free agent planning and draft scouting.

Teams across the league have needs heading into the 2026 season. One of the best ways to fill those needs is through the first round of the NFL draft. The best prospects in the top 32 picks can often be plug-and-play starters for teams as rookies.

This year’s class is defined by depth on the defensive line, interior offensive line, wide receiver, tight end and an outstanding linebacker class.

Here’s our latest predictions ahead of the conference championship games:

2026 NFL mock draft

1. Las Vegas Raiders: QB Fernando Mendoza, Indiana

Mendoza led Indiana to the program’s first national championship and showcased exactly why he’ll be the No. 1 pick in the draft. Las Vegas has lots of needs all over the roster but can’t pass up on a new franchise quarterback to start a new regime.

2. New York Jets: LB Arvell Reese, Ohio State

With Dante Moore back in school, the Jets get the top prospect in the class. Reese is a modern linebacker who can truly do it all with elite athleticism in a 6-foot-4, 243-pound frame.

3. Arizona Cardinals: OT Spencer Fano, Utah

This is a bit of a reach and Arizona still hasn’t settled on a new head coach but Fano could be an easy fit. He’s the top offensive lineman prospect in the class and started the last two years at right tackle for the Utes. He could take over for pending free agent Jonah Williams at that spot or kick inside.

4. Tennessee Titans: Edge Keldric Faulk, Auburn

Tennessee hired Robert Saleh to take over as head coach after another year with the San Francisco 49ers. Saleh’s defenses there put a priority on long, powerful, athletic defensive linemen. Faulk fits that bill and is one of the youngest prospects in the class.

5. New York Giants: WR Carnell Tate, Ohio State

It was between offensive line or wide receiver for New York here. Tate’s skill set would fit well alongside returning starter Malik Nabers. His size (6-foot-3, 190 pounds) and contested catch abilities could be exciting for second-year quarterback Jaxson Dart.

6. Cleveland Browns: OT Francis Mauigoa, Miami (FL)

Like New York, we’re thinking either offensive line or skill position for the Browns. Given how many of the offensive line pieces are hitting free agency, we’re going with Mauigoa here. The Hurricanes’ right tackle has the size to stick there at the NFL with mauling power in the run game and a strong anchor in pass protection.

7. Washington Commanders: Edge Rueben Bain Jr., Miami (FL)

Bain makes it back-to-back Miami products off the board. Arm length is a concern but his power is undeniable. Dan Quinn’s defense needs an influx of young talent and Bain should fit that bill.

8. New Orleans Saints: RB Jeremiyah Love, Notre Dame

New Orleans’ 2025 class played well and they get the most dynamic offensive weapon in the 2026 class in Love here. The Notre Dame product is the ideal modern back with receiving chops and home-run speed out the backfield. Kellen Moore could get creative using him all over the offense for Tyler Shough in year two.

9. Kansas City Chiefs: WR Jordyn Tyson, Arizona State

Kansas City needs more weapons on offense for Patrick Mahomes and Tyson is arguably the top wide receiver in the class. He lacks elite speed but his precise route-running and separation abilities should earn him plenty of targets. His injury history may knock him down to the bottom of the top 10, like it does here.

10. Cincinnati Bengals: Edge David Bailey, Texas Tech

Cincinnati’s defense needs pass rush help in a big way with Trey Hendrickson hitting free agency. You couldn’t find a more productive pass rusher in the FBS than Bailey in 2025. There are some run defense concerns but he’d be a plug-and-play rusher off the edge.

11. Miami Dolphins: S Caleb Downs, Ohio State

Miami hired Jeff Hafley whose background is in defensive back coaching. Xavier McKinney flourished in Green Bay under Hafley and he could absolutely find the best way to maximize Downs. The Buckeyes safety is firmly one of the three best prospects in the class.

12. Dallas Cowboys: CB Jermod McCoy, Tennessee

Dallas parted ways with Trevon Diggs after finishing as one of the worst pass defenses in the league in 2025. McCoy has some medical questions after tearing his ACL and missing the entire college season. But what he put on tape in 2024 shows an ideal outside cornerback for the NFL level.

13. Los Angeles Rams (from Atlanta): CB Mansoor Delane, LSU

Los Angeles should brace for losing defensive coordinator Chris Shula and this is one way to prepare for that. Delane fits the bill of a Rams player: not an outstanding athlete by testing numbers but a productive player in game situations. His technique is impressive for his age and he’d be an upgrade at the position.

14. Baltimore Ravens: DT Peter Woods, Clemson

Jesse Minter is the newest Ravens head coach and his background on defense influences this pick. Woods has the talent to be a Pro Bowl player but needs to improve his consistency to maximize that. Minter showed he can do just that while with the Chargers.

15. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: LB CJ Allen, Georgia

Lavonte David is a franchise legend but will be one of the oldest players in the league in 2026. Allen is a tackling machine with sideline-to-sideline athleticism packaged in a 6-foot-1, 235-pound frame.

16. New York Jets (from Indianapolis): WR Makai Lemon, USC

New York didn’t get a quarterback at No. 2 but improves the offense here. Lemon thrived in the slot for the Trojans as a chain-moving merchant who can find holes in zone coverage and gain leverage against defenders. He’d be a nice complement for Garrett Wilson in the pass-catching corps.

17. Detroit Lions: OT Kadyn Proctor, Alabama

Proctor is an outlier athlete at 6-foot-7 and 360 pounds. He has all of the tools to be a long-term tackle but might start out at guard to improve his consistency. Good luck getting Dan Campbell to pass on Proctor after seeing Alabama utilizing him as a receiver on screens.

18. Minnesota Vikings: CB Avieon Terrell, Clemson

Minnesota crucially retained Brian Flores as defensive coordinator and gets him a young piece to develop in the secondary. Terrell may be slightly undersized but outplays his frame and causes turnovers in both coverage and run defense.

19. Carolina Panthers: Edge T.J. Parker, Clemson

Carolina could go plenty of directions with this pick. Ultimately, we went with more pass rush help. Parker has the tools to be a good rotational rusher sooner than later but, like much of the Clemson defense, underperformed in 2025.

20. Dallas Cowboys (from Green Bay): LB Sonny Styles, Ohio State

We expect the Cowboys to trade down if possible because they have just two picks in the first 100 selections. If they stay put, look for them to target linebacker in a loaded class. Styles was originally the top prospect before Reese overtook him. He offers similar size and athleticism for the Dallas defense.

21. Pittsburgh Steelers: CB Colton Hood, Tennessee

Pittsburgh is still searching for a head coach at time of publishing but needs young talent in the secondary regardless of who is hired. This time around, we have them getting Hood, who took on a bigger role with Jermod McCoy’s injury in 2025 and performed very well.

22. Los Angeles Chargers: IOL Olaivavega Ioane, Penn State

The Chargers’ interior offensive line was one of the worst in the league this past season. They have a new coordinator in the building but could use an upgrade in talent as well. Ioane is the top interior offensive lineman prospect in the class thanks to his athleticism and power at ideal size.

23. Philadelphia Eagles: TE Kenyon Sadiq, Oregon

Dallas Goedert is hitting free agency and Sadiq could make sense as his heir in the Eagles offense. Sadiq is a vertical threat and a willing blocker with plenty of runway to improve. He’ll be a 21-year-old rookie.

24. Cleveland Browns (from Jacksonville): WR Denzel Boston, Washington

Cleveland bolstered the offensive line with their first pick in the first round and upgrades the skill positions here. Boston’s a big-bodied ball-winner who can be a piece to build around for the Browns passing game.

25. Chicago Bears: DT Caleb Banks, Florida

Chicago’s secondary played extremely well in its final game of the year. The Bears opt to upgrade the front for coordinator Dennis Allen with their first-round pick. Banks missed time in 2025 with a foot injury but has the size and elite athleticism to be a building block for the front into the future.

26. Buffalo Bills: OT Caleb Lomu, Utah

Two of the three interior starters on Buffalo’s offensive line are hitting free agency and the Bills don’t have the money to retain them all. Lomu is raw but has great athleticism and spent the 2025 season at left tackle for Utah. In this scenario, he’d be plugged in at guard which might end up being a better spot for him due to his lean frame.

27. San Francisco 49ers: WR KC Concepcion, Texas A&M

It looks like Brandon Aiyuk is heading to greener pastures and the 49ers lacked weapons outside of Christian McCaffrey down the stretch. Concepcion is a dynamic open-field threat for whom Kyle Shanahan could scheme up plenty of touches.

28. Houston Texans: DT Kayden McDonald, Ohio State

Houston’s defense was one of the best in the league in 2025 but could use an upgrade on the interior line. McDonald isn’t much of a pass rusher at this point but Houston wouldn’t need him to be. Instead, he’d eat up blocks to free up the rest of the second-level defenders.

29. Los Angeles Rams: QB Ty Simpson, Alabama

Simpson is a curious case study. As a one-year starter in a shallow quarterback class, could he make the jump to the end of the first round a la Jaxson Dart? He could be an understudy to learn behind Matthew Stafford before taking over in later years.

30. New England Patriots: OT Caleb Tiernan, Northwestern

New England has to put a premium on protecting Drake Maye. Morgan Moses will be 35 years old next season and it’d be tough to find a more reliable tackle starter than Tiernan. He hasn’t missed a snap during the past four years and is a big-framed pass protector.

31. Denver Broncos: DT Christen Miller, Georgia

Denver could lose John Franklin-Myers in free agency this offseason so bolstering the defensive line even more should be a priority. Miller has great tools but needs time to develop them. In Denver, there’d be little pressure to produce immediately.

32. Seattle Seahawks: IOL Gennings Dunker, Iowa

Last year, Seattle went with a former college tackle in the first round and moved him inside to good results in Grey Zabel. They do that again with Dunker. The Seahawks’ interior could use one more piece to protect Sam Darnold and Dunker’s mentality and experience could pay off here.

Surely the UFC could have found bigger names for the main event in its debut on Paramount+ on Saturday, Jan. 24.

But the featured fight at UFC 324 still figures to provide ample action when Justin Gaethje faces Paddy Pimblett for the interim lightweight championship.

Gaethje, 37, has lost three of his last seven fights, but there’s a reason he’s still a fan favorite: In three of his last four bouts, he shared a $50,000 bonus for Fight of the Night. And in the fourth fight, he pocketed a $50,000 bonus for Performance of the Night.

During that stretch, Gaethje knocked out Dustin Poirier with a head kick – one of Gaethje’s 20 KOs — and he got knocked out by Max Holloway.

During Gaethje’s last 14 fights, he has collected the bonus for Fight of the Night eight times and the bonus for Performance of the Night.

Pimblett, 31, has delivered too. Over his last seven fights, he has  $50,000 bonus for Performance of the Night five times.

USA TODAY Sports has everything you need to enjoy UFC 324, including updates, highlights and analysis:

UFC 324: Time, PPV, streaming for Gaethje vs Pimblett

The highly anticipated fight between Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett will take place on Saturday, Jan. 24 and can be streamed on Paramount+, marking the sport’s debut on the service.

Date: Saturday, Jan. 24
Location: T-Mobile Arena (Las Vegas, NV)
Early Prelims start time: 5 p.m. ET
Early Prelims card stream: Paramount+
Prelims card start time: 7 p.m. ET
Prelims card stream: Paramount+
Main card start time: 9 p.m. ET on Paramount+

Catch UFC action now all fights on Paramount+

UFC 324 early prelim start time

Puctuality is not the operative word for UFC’s debut on Paramount+. The early prelims were scheduled to start no later than 5:30 p.m. ET. But we’re closing in on 6 p.m. ET without any word about when the three early prelim bouts will start. The first prelim bout finally started at 6:12 p.m. It didn’t last long. The Parmount+ era officially commenced in bloody and brutal fashion as Ty Miller beat Adam Fugitt by TKO with one second left in the first round of their welterweight fight.

Does Bruce Buffer get a do-over?

Bruce Buffer, UFC’s ring announcer, left an unfortunate mark on UFC’s debut on Paramount+. Before the first prelim fight, Buffer botched the introduction of fighters Ty Miller and Adam Fugitt by reading their bios in the wrong order.

UFC 324 fight results: Early prelims

Ty Miller def. Adam Fugitt by TKO (1st round), welterweight
Josh Hokit def. Denzel Freeman by TKO (1st round), heavyweight

UFC 324: Gaethje vs Pimblett predictions

Action Network: Pimblett

The 31-year-old Pimblett has looked better and better in every fight, and the market is banking on him continuing to improve against 37-year-old Justin Gaethje. The former interim champion Gaethje is getting another crack at the interim title and has only ever lost to champion-level opponents, with all five of his losses coming against men who’ve at least won an interim title. That makes this a fairly big step up for Pimblett, whose best win to date was likely his third-round finish of Michael Chandler last year. Of course, that’s the same Michael Chandler who took Gaethje to a decision a few years ago, albeit an early version.

Dan Hooker: Gaethje

In an interview on Submission Radio, Hooker, the UFC lightweight fighter, said of Gaethje, ‘I think he’s gonna put Paddy to the test. …Gaethje’s takedown defense is pretty sharp, I don’t see (Pimblett taking Gaethje down). We haven’t seen Paddy get in there that often and mix it up with the best guys in their prime.”

Dustin Poirier: Gaethje

In an interview on the Ariel Helwani Show, Poirier, the former interim UFC lightweight champion, said ‘It’s a fun fight. I’m leaning towards Justin, but we’ll see. I just think he’s been in those 25-minute fights. He’s been in dogfights before. I think Paddy’s going to have a tough time stopping him on the feet. And I don’t think Paddy’s going to be able to get him down, so he’s going to have to fight with him unless Paddy can stay super disciplined for 25 minutes, stay at distance, pick his shots. …Justin’s just a bigger puncher, and he’ll put himself in harm’s way to land one of those shots. It’s tough to stay away from him for 25 minutes. I think Justin stops him.’

UFC 324 odds: Gaethje vs Pimblett fight

Odds via BetMGM as of Wednesday.

Justin Gaethje (+190) vs. Paddy Pimblett (-235),  For interim lightweight title

Where is UFC 324: Gaethje and Pimblett?

UFC 324: Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett will be held at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026.

UFC 324 live stream

The Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett marks a historic turn for the UFC. All fights, from eraly prelims to the main card, will be available on Paramount+.

UFC 324 price

Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett will fight for the interim lightweight title in the main event of UFC’s debut on Paramount+. Say goodbye to the pay-per-view fees, but don’t forget the Paramount+ subscription fee of $8.99 that gets you access to UFC fights — starting with UFC 324 Saturday, Jan. 21 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Are Amanda Nunes and Kayla Harrison fighting at UFC 324?

A highly anticipated bout between Kayla Harrison and Amanda Nunez was canceled after Harrison suffered a neck injury that required surgery. That elevated a bantamweight matchup between Sean O’Malley and Song Yadong.

Ring walk time for Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett main event

The Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett fight card consists of 13 fights and will begin at 5 p.m. ET on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, with early prelim fights. The main event for the Gaethje vs Pimblett fight is expected to be around 11:30 p.m. ET. However, the duration of the undercard will impact the actual start.

UFC moves to Paramount+ ending PPV era

UFC moves on from its PPV model with ESPN and ESPN+. With its seven-year, $7.7 billion deal with Paramount, the promise is upwards of 40 UFC events a year. It all begins in 2026 with UFC 324 on Jan. 24, which will broadcast on Paramount+.

UFC 324: Gaethje vs Pimblett fight card

Fight card according to ESPN and odds according to BetMGM as of Wednesday.

Main Card:

Justin Gaethje vs. Paddy Pimblett,  For interim lightweight title
Sean O’Malley vs. Song Yadong; Bantamweight
Waldo Cortez-Acosta vs. Derrick Lewis; Heavyweight
Natalie Silvia vs. Rose Namajunas Women’s flyweight
Arnold Allen vs. Jean Silva; Featherweight

Prelims:

Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Deiveson Figueiredo; Bantamweight (Odds unavailable)
Ateba Gautier vs. Andrey Pulyaev; Middleweight
Nikita Krylov vs. Modestas Bukauskas; Light heavyweight
Alex Perez vs. Charles Johnson; flyweight

Early Prelims:

Michael Johnson vs. Alexander Hernandez; Lightweight
Josh Hokit vs. Denzel Freeman; Heavyweight
Ricky Turcios vs. Cameron Smotheron; Bantamweight (canceled)
Adam Fugitt vs. Ty Miller; Welterweight

It’s hard to imagine nowadays, with acrimony baked into collective bargaining negotiations and the commissioner forecasting a lockout months in advance, but there was once a time when Major League Baseball and the MLB Players’ Association achieved labor peace with little incident.

In 2006, 2011 and 2016, with Donald Fehr, the late Michael Weiner and Tony Clark on the union’s side, and Rob Manfred largely on the 1s and 2s for management, CBAs got done on time and with relative equity, with ownership even coaxing a few wins out of the 2016 deal.

In the decade since, plenty has changed, even as the material conditions of baseball’s economics – major sources of revenue, large markets and mega markets, ownership groups ranging from all in to checked out – remains the same.

Yet the current agita regarding boundless spending and fiscal inequity and the need for a salary cap to rein in the clubs that are making life unfair can be traced in no small part to one development from the mid-aughts to now.

Back then, Frank McCourt and Fred Wilpon owned the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets, respectively. And now they are owned by Mark Walter and Steve Cohen, so rich and mighty that they alone can topple baseball’s economic model.

Make no mistake: This is a weird time in the game, its popularity booming based off TV ratings and global reach, yet its near-term future clouded by broadcast uncertainties both local and national. Still, the past winter’s free agent activity suggests that many franchises remain in very good health, based on the diversity of franchises engaging aggressively in a market lukewarm in talent.

So why, then, would the signing of Kyle Tucker, of all people, be the contract that broke baseball’s decades of relative labor peace?

Oh, Tucker’s four-year pact with the Dodgers guaranteeing him $60 million per season for up to four years won’t necessarily be the precipitating event forcing ownership to take a hardline on labor negotiations after this season. Heck, Manfred, now commissioner, has been telegraphing a nuclear salary cap ask for many months, even trying to sell players on it in buddy-buddy clubhouse sessions that in one case turned acrimonious.

It is funny, though, that the first “sky is falling” smoke signal came after the two-time champion Dodgers added Tucker, a very good ballplayer who has never missed the playoffs but nonetheless lacks main character energy.

No, things were much more peaceful when McCourt owned the Dodgers and used them like a piggy bank until he was forced to sell the franchise in shame – and pocket $2 billion.

There was little rancor when the Wilpon-owned Mets found new frontiers of dysfunction, reaching its depths when much of their family wealth vanished in the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme.

You’d think it wasn’t great for the game when franchises in the game’s two biggest markets operated in dire straits. But hey, at least they weren’t trying too hard to win.

The 2026 Dodgers are drifting toward a $600 million outlay for payroll, including luxury tax penalties, according to Spotrac. The Mets will top half a billion dollars, as they’re now three-time offenders of the so-called ‘Cohen Tax,’ named for the fanboy turned hedge fund kingpin turned owner, who is aiming to replicate the Dodgers’ marriage of spending and smarts and getting a little closer each year.

Unfair? Sure. At the same time, the Dodgers and Mets paid a premium to land their properties on Park Place and Boardwalk. They got it, and they’re flaunting it.

Is this sensible in a league where competition and the hope of winning are paramount to fandom?

Yes and no.

Major League Baseball is in the entertainment business. And the 2025 World Series TV ratings are proof enough: Every gut-wrenching plot twist in the epic Dodgers-Blue Jays seven-game match showed that the Dodgers entertain.

The Mets entertained in their own little way, too: Perhaps the most dramatic 83-win season we’ve witnessed, given their hot start, their four-month collapse, the massive expectations that come with such spending only for all of it to come up one win short of the playoffs in the season’s final hour.

Both coastal elites are operating within the rules, but the rules weren’t conceived with the notion that a man with a net worth north of $20 billion would pair it with a burning desire to win. Novel, isn’t it?

The outcome isn’t ideal: The Dodgers and Mets followed by an upper middle class that’s larger than baseball would like to admit, followed by teams in less-large (no, not small) markets.

The question that will roil the industry, from now through the moment Manfred locks out the players in December until the moment labor peace is presumably achieved: Is a salary cap the answer?

A better question might be: Have MLB’s owners earned the right to find out?

Small markets: Larger than you think

The runaway popularity of the NFL – it is the monoculture, and nothing else basically exists on that level – has certainly done a number on the brains of sports fans.

Setting aside for a moment the virulent anti-labor landscape of the NFL, it is clear that its salary cap does not solve many of the problems some baseball fans claim is now endemic in their un-capped sport.

Not when just eight franchises have accounted for the past 18 trips to the Super Bowl. Or when the AFC championship has featured one or both of the Patriots and Chiefs for the past 15 seasons.

It is almost like organizational competence matters more than a flattening of the salary structure.

Oh, but the little guy has a chance in football, you say!

Perhaps nominally. Yet in that 15-season span dominated by the Chiefs and Patriots, just 12 teams reached the Super Bowl.

Wanna guess how many teams reached the World Series in that same stretch beginning with the 2011 season?

Eighteen, which means it’s easier to reel off the ones who didn’t make the Fall Classic: Baltimore, Minnesota, the Chicago White Sox, Seattle, Oakland/Yolo Countys, the Los Angeles Angels, Miami, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, San Diego and Colorado.

The Padres, Orioles, Brewers and Mariners all reached a league championship series in that time. Do the remaining franchises strike you as particularly well-run? Do they have distinguished ownership groups with clear vision and a penchant for innovation? Consistently operate at a high level?

Certainly, the Twins and A’s had their moments in that span. At the same time, ownership foibles have exposed systemic issues that hindered consistent success.

The kind of thing a salary cap, say, wouldn’t help.

Here’s a question: Who, exactly, is the salary cap for?

Is it so the upper-middle class teams – your Red Sox, Phillies, Giants, Blue Jays, Yankees, Cubs – can stay within shouting distance of the Big Two?

To provide a puncher’s chance for the most bedraggled among us – your Pirates and Marlins, Royals and Reds?

This is where it gets challenging to determine if the cap would actually help – or if some of those franchises would simply continue their same aversion to serious competition, pocket their shared revenues and lock in even greater profits for every other franchise.

Funny thing about the “little guys” – market size is often the shield management hides behind. It’s interesting to look at the actual size of markets and realize just how big they are.

Poor little Pittsburgh? The Pirates have never signed a free agent for more than $39 million. Have not won their division since 1992. Yet Pittsburgh itself, at 1.16 million, ranks 27th among Nielsen markets – a few notches above No. 30 San Diego, which checks in at 1.11 million.

You know San Diego, right? Famously boxed in by Mexico to the south, the desert to the east, L.A. to the north – yet since 2021 has signed five players to contracts worth between $100 million and $340 million. And with each subsequent add, Petco Park gets a little more crowded.

How about plucky Tampa Bay, having to do things smarter than anyone, and like Pittsburgh with never more than $40 million awarded to a free agent? Well, the Tampa-St. Pete market ranks 12th nationally, with 2.22 million people – just behind that other Bay Area, in California.

Sure, the Rays have a stadium problem, most notably the difficulty reaching Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg from points north and east. They’re working on it. At the same time, they’re as close in market size to Boston (2.58 million) as they are Minneapolis-St. Paul (1.88 million)

Little wonder new owner Patrick Zalupski paid $1.7 billion to purchase the club in September. The Rays have doggedly carved out their role in the MLB pantheon – spend little, win more than they lose. A new stadium would make this an insanely profitable gambit, but it’s pretty sweet already.

A salary cap would only further burnish the franchise value, which is the real carrot for Zalupski’s cronies.

Yet would it make these franchises better, or markedly enhance their championship hopes?

We probably know the answer. The Pirates with a salary cap would simply be the New Orleans Pelicans in spikes.

Cap casualties

Beyond that, salary caps are kind of a bummer.

Baseball fans have gotten well-acquainted with luxury tax thresholds and their respective teams’ willingness or otherwise to exceed them. Certainly, the tax ceilings may cost a team a player, or prevent them from that final, crucial move down the stretch.

Yet that comes without the many problems a hard cap presents.

A favorite player becoming a “salary cap casualty.”

The tension that comes when a veteran is asked to “rework their contract for the good of the team.”

The aggravation of a team’s “win curve” suddenly running up against the cap, preventing retention or addition of talent when the time is right to strike.

The training camp holdout, a maneuver multiple NFL stars perform each summer because their leverage is virtually nil.

Certainly makes baseball’s annual rituals – the Boras Four, the soft core collusion – seem quaint.

Indeed, for all baseball’s economic travails, the transactions bring a finality that simply doesn’t exist in the NFL. The contracts are guaranteed. The players abide by the contract, even when a Bryce Harper or an Aaron Judge sign what look like watershed deals, only to get superseded within a year or two.

Naturally, owners’ efforts to form a united front for a salary cap will be fascinating. Twenty-three of the 30 must agree to it. Not hard to imagine the Mets and Dodgers, privately at least, are opposed: They are operating with impunity, so long as they consider scratching nine-figure tax checks that fund baseball’s less fortunate as the cost of doing business.

The others? Well, they are free to be as profligate or tight-fisted as they like in a given year. Too often we perceive the MLB franchise in extremes: The wild-eyed spenders, or the destitute trying to find scraps on the waiver wire.

The greater truth is that teams are more like poker players, often calling, sometimes folding but occasionally eyeing their suddenly large stack of chips and deciding to go for it.

In this century, 18 teams – Toronto, Boston, Detroit, Seattle, Texas, Anaheim, Philadelphia, the Mets, Miami, Atlanta, Washington, the Cubs, St. Louis, the Dodgers, San Diego, San Francisco, Arizona, Colorado – have had go-for-it and moribund periods alike.

All but Seattle have made a World Series, more emblematic of the game’s reality than the outliers.

Someday, should their financial situations change or their rosters are finally hamstrung by too much big-money, fading talent, the Mets and Dodgers may find themselves back on the wrong side of that line.

For now, they are the game’s pariahs, their proverbial hands slapped for trying too hard. The industrywide price, in management’s eyes, should be a salary cap.

A greater solution: A little more competence and a little more care from those who have displayed precious little of either.

Surely the UFC could have found bigger names for the main event in its debut on Paramount+ on Saturday, Jan. 21.

But the featured fight at UFC 324 still figures to provide ample action when Justin Gaethje faces Paddy Pimblett for the interim lightweight championship.

Gaethje, 37, has lost three of his last seven fights, but there’s a reason he’s still a fan favorite: In three of his last four bouts, he shared a $50,000 bonus for Fight of the Night. And in the fourth fight, he pocketed a $50,000 bonus for Performance of the Night.

During that stretch, Gaethje knocked out Dustin Poirier with a head kick – one of Gaethje’s 20 KOs — and he got knocked out by Max Holloway.

During Gaethje’s last 14 fights, he has collected the bonus for Fight of the Night eight times and the bonus for Performance of the Night.

Pimblett, 31, has delivered too. Over his last seven fights, he has  $50,000 bonus for Performance of the Night five times.

USA TODAY Sports has everything you need to enjoy UFC 324, including updates, highlights and analysis:

UFC 324: Time, PPV, streaming for Gaethje vs Pimblett

The highly anticipated fight between Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett will take place on Saturday, Jan. 24 and can be streamed on Paramount+, marking the sport’s debut on the service.

Date: Saturday, Jan. 24
Location: T-Mobile Arena (Las Vegas, NV)
Early Prelims start time: 5 p.m. ET
Early Prelims card stream: Paramount+
Prelims card start time: 7 p.m. ET
Prelims card stream: Paramount+
Main card start time: 9 p.m. ET on Paramount+

Catch UFC action now all fights on Paramount+

UFC 324: Gaethje vs Pimblett predictions

Action Network: Pimblett

The 31-year-old Pimblett has looked better and better in every fight, and the market is banking on him continuing to improve against 37-year-old Justin Gaethje. The former interim champion Gaethje is getting another crack at the interim title and has only ever lost to champion-level opponents, with all five of his losses coming against men who’ve at least won an interim title. That makes this a fairly big step up for Pimblett, whose best win to date was likely his third-round finish of Michael Chandler last year. Of course, that’s the same Michael Chandler who took Gaethje to a decision a few years ago, albeit an early version.

Dan Hooker: Gaethje

In an interview on Submission Radio, Hooker, the UFC lightweight fighter, said of Gaethje, ‘I think he’s gonna put Paddy to the test. …Gaethje’s takedown defense is pretty sharp, I don’t see (Pimblett taking Gaethje down). We haven’t seen Paddy get in there that often and mix it up with the best guys in their prime.”

Dustin Poirier: Gaethje

In an interview on the Ariel Helwani Show, Poirier, the former interim UFC lightweight champion, said ‘It’s a fun fight. I’m leaning towards Justin, but we’ll see. I just think he’s been in those 25-minute fights. He’s been in dogfights before. I think Paddy’s going to have a tough time stopping him on the feet. And I don’t think Paddy’s going to be able to get him down, so he’s going to have to fight with him unless Paddy can stay super disciplined for 25 minutes, stay at distance, pick his shots. …Justin’s just a bigger puncher, and he’ll put himself in harm’s way to land one of those shots. It’s tough to stay away from him for 25 minutes. I think Justin stops him.’

UFC 324 odds: Gaethje vs Pimblett fight

Odds via BetMGM as of Wednesday.

Justin Gaethje (+190) vs. Paddy Pimblett (-235),  For interim lightweight title

Ring walk time for Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett main event

The Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett fight card consists of 13 fights and will begin at 5 p.m. ET on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, with early prelim fights. The main event for the Gaethje vs Pimblett fight is expected to be around 11:30 p.m. ET. However, the duration of the undercard will impact the actual start.

UFC moves to Paramount+ ending PPV era

UFC moves on from its PPV model with ESPN and ESPN+. With its seven-year, $7.7 billion deal with Paramount, the promise is upwards of 40 UFC events a year. It all begins in 2026 with UFC 324 on Jan. 24, which will broadcast on Paramount+.

UFC 324 preliminary and main card start times

Here are your start times.

Early Prelims: 5 p.m. ET (Paramount+)
Prelims: 7 p.m. ET (Paramount+)
Main card: 9 p.m. ET (Paramount+)

UFC 324: Gaethje vs Pimblett fight card

Fight card according to ESPN and odds according to BetMGM as of Wednesday.

Main Card:

Justin Gaethje vs. Paddy Pimblett,  For interim lightweight title
Sean O’Malley vs. Song Yadong; Bantamweight
Waldo Cortez-Acosta vs. Derrick Lewis; Heavyweight
Natalie Silvia vs. Rose Namajunas Women’s flyweight
Arnold Allen vs. Jean Silva; Featherweight

Prelims:

Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Deiveson Figueiredo; Bantamweight (Odds unavailable)
Ateba Gautier vs. Andrey Pulyaev; Middleweight
Nikita Krylov vs. Modestas Bukauskas; Light heavyweight
Alex Perez vs. Charles Johnson; flyweight

Early Prelims:

Michael Johnson vs. Alexander Hernandez; Lightweight
Josh Hokit vs. Denzel Freeman; Heavyweight
Ricky Turcios vs. Cameron Smotheron; Bantamweight
Adam Fugitt vs. Ty Miller; Welterweight

The Buffalo Bills fired head coach Sean McDermott after another playoff loss, despite his 106 wins over nine seasons.
Owner Terry Pegula said McDermott’s team hit a ‘proverbial playoff wall,’ citing recent postseason disappointments.
The team has reportedly interviewed former quarterback Philip Rivers, who has no NFL or college coaching experience, as a potential replacement.
Hiring an inexperienced coach like Rivers is a significant risk for a team in a ‘win-now’ window with quarterback Josh Allen.

The Buffalo Bills are desperate to win a Super Bowl, something the 66-year-old franchise has never done.

It was plainly evident when they lost on Super Sunday four straight times between the 1990 and 1993 seasons, the Lombardi Trophy seemingly straying further from their grasp with each successive failure – despite Buffalo’s admirable (not admiral) bridesmaid run.

It was plainly evident Wednesday, when Bills owner Terry Pegula attempted to explain his decision to fire head coach Sean McDermott after nine seasons – and 106 wins – with eight playoff appearances. Pegula was still clearly upset about Buffalo’s final offensive snap in its 33-30 overtime loss at Denver in the divisional round of the AFC playoffs, Broncos cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian’s controversial interception/takeaway from Bills wideout Brandin Cooks.

Yet Pegula wasn’t upset with quarterback Josh Allen, that final pick his fourth turnover of the day – to say nothing of the potential game-winning TD pass he missed at the end of regulation by overthrowing tight end Dawson Knox in the final seconds of the fourth quarter. Pegula apparently isn’t overly upset with GM Brandon Beane, who was also just awarded the title of president of football operations despite some questionable salary cap management and draft decisions.

Nope. Pegula saw a distraught locker room after the game and heaped the blame for Buffalo’s latest postseason shortfall on McDermott (with a side reserved for receiver Keon Coleman).

‘I felt like we hit the proverbial playoff wall, year after year: 13 seconds, missed field goals, the catch. I just sensed in that locker room, (players wondering) ‘Where do we go from here?” said Pegula.

Apparently – maybe – to Philip Rivers, whom the team reportedly interviewed to replace McDermott on Friday?

Say what?

Philip Rivers getting Bills past ‘playoff wall’ would be a career first

Let’s get this straight: A team that’s never won the Super Bowl, nor been to one in 32 years, is considering a former player, one with no coaching experience at the NFL or college football levels, to replace a guy who’d been grinding in the NFL for more than a quarter century and won two-thirds of his games as Buffalo’s HC? A team that’s never won the Super Bowl, nor been to one in 32 years, is considering a former player to break through that “proverbial playoff wall” even though, as a Hall of Fame-caliber quarterback himself, Rivers never broke through that “proverbial playoff wall?”

McDermott was 8-8 in the playoffs with two losses in the AFC championship game. As the QB1 of the San Diego and Los Angeles Chargers and, briefly, the Indianapolis Colts, Rivers was 5-7 in the playoffs (in 17-plus seasons). The Bolts, armed with Hall of Famers LaDainian Tomlinson and Antonio Gates and a championship-caliber defense, went one-and-done in the 2006 and 2009 playoffs despite first-round byes and home games in San Diego.

That’s not to say those failures lay solely at the feet of Rivers, who famously played the 2007 AFC championship game on a torn right ACL and meniscus. But how much of Buffalo’s failures were McDermott’s fault? Maybe the Bills did their version of the “Tush Push” once too often in last year’s three-point AFC title game loss at Kansas City. Maybe Buffalo’s defensive approach was tactically flawed when it allowed the Chiefs to tie the game with 13 seconds left in regulation before winning a coin toss and an epic divisional round in overtime 42-36 four years ago – at a time when Allen didn’t get his shot to possess the ball in OT.

Yet McDermott didn’t officiate Sunday’s loss. He didn’t fail to protect the ball. He didn’t miss big kicks in previous years. (He did shepherd an emotionally spent team to an AFC East crown and playoff win three years ago, in the intermediate aftermath of Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffering cardiac arrest on the field in Week 17, but that’s a story for another day.)

What we’d talking about here is a guy who had yet to win the big one being replaced by one who never has, either.

Bills, in Josh Allen’s prime, lack time for Rivers to learn on the job

Perhaps you say, Rivers – if hired – would be brought in as the head man, not quarterback, and he’s been quite successful coaching at St. Michael Catholic High School in Fairhope, Alabama, where he’s gone 43-15 since (temporarily) retiring from the NFL after the 2020 season.

I would say the last two former NFL players to become head coaches without the benefit of coaching experience at the NFL or college level are Jeff Saturday (1-7 as the Colts’ interim coach in 2022) and Hall of Fame quarterback Norm Van Brocklin, who went 66-100-7 over 13 seasons between 1961 and 1974 and never reached the postseason. (FWIW, Rivers hasn’t won a high school championship, either.)

Perhaps you say, it’s better to hire a potentially high-end prospect like Rivers a year too early rather than wait and lose him. Just look at what Sean McVay, 30 when he was hired by the Los Angeles Rams in 2017, has done while becoming one of the best coaches in league history while not even on the job for a decade. (Note: McVay had eight seasons of NFL experience prior to joining the Rams.)

I would say whoever takes the Bills job doesn’t have the luxury of on-job training. Sure, Rivers knows how to deftly handle the media and immerse himself into the NFL’s weekly cadence − freshly reacquainted after coming out of retirement to start three games for the Colts in December. And while he wouldn’t be charged with maintaining the field, as he’s done in Fairhope, the demands on an NFL coach – never mind one with a family as large as Rivers’ – are infinite.

And this assignment doesn’t have the runway of a rebuild. The Bills are a win-now team with a generational quarterback, but one who will enter his ninth NFL season in 2026. (FWIW, Cam Newton, a former MVP whose game was very similar to Allen’s − including the punishment he absorbed − lasted 11 years, though the last few weren’t very pretty.) And while Rivers wore No. 17 like Allen, his game was completely dissimilar, so it’s not like he could lean on his own professional experience all that much while translating the NFL-adjacent offense he’s run at St. Michael’s to the one he’d potentially ask Allen to execute.

Yet the paramount consideration is that this is a Super Bowl-or-bust scenario, even if Pegula wasn’t willing to co-sign that label for his team – one just knocked off its AFC East perch by the younger New England Patriots in 2025 and now fighting to keep its championship window open.

“I don’t know about pressure right now, but there’s a lot of people that want to look at taking this job,” Pegula said Wednesday. “There’s a lot of interest.”

Undoubtedly. Despite cap issues. Despite pending roster turnover. Despite Allen having played the final game of his twenties. Despite the obvious championship mandate Pegula won’t admit exists as his team moves into a new stadium and era.

Added Pegula: ‘We’re making a change and, you know, it’s ‘do your best job,” meaning the message to McDermott’s successor.

It’s just unfair to Allen, his teammates and – frankly – Rivers to think he’s the best man for this job. Right now.

The Mafia needs to look for a made man. Elsewhere.

The 2026 Super Bowl is two weeks away. Every year, the event draws attention and attendance from all walks of life, including some of the most recognizable celebrities.

Among those in attendance a year ago was President Donald Trump. However, he told the New York Post in a Jan. 23 interview that the game is ‘just too far away’ in 2026.

The Super Bowl this year is on Feb. 8 in Santa Clara, California, at Levi’s Stadium, the home of the San Francisco 49ers. Trump became the first sitting president to attend the Super Bowl in 2025 when the Big Game was in New Orleans.

Aside from the distance to the Super Bowl, President Trump has voiced his discontent with Puerto Rican artist – Bad Bunny – who sings in Spanish, taking the stage for the Super Bowl 60 halftime show.

Trump is also unhappy with the league’s decision to have Green Day perform in a special ceremony before the Super Bowl on Feb. 8. The band is from nearby Berkeley, California, just across the San Francisco Bay from Levi’s Stadium.

“I’m anti-them,’ Trump told the New York Post. ‘I think it’s a terrible choice. All it does is sow hatred. Terrible.’

In October, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell confirmedthat the league was not reconsidering its decision to have Bad Bunny perform at the halftime show after receiving divisive reactions.

Trump is not new to commenting on NFL happenings this season. The President of the United States has been an outspoken critic of the league’s new kickoff rules, which were implemented last season, and even joined a Fox broadcast booth for a game in Week 10. Trump also praised Shedeur Sanders after he made his first NFL start. He recently made a comment endorsing an NFL team to hire John Harbaugh after he was fired by the Baltimore Ravens.

Giannis Antetokounmpo’s future is the conversation that is dominating the NBA. But his immediate health is now also a concern for the Milwaukee Bucks.

Antetokounmpo could not finish out Friday night’s game against the Denver Nuggets as his team was mounting a frantic comeback that ultimately fell just short.

The injury appeared to occur as Antetokounmpo was heading back up the court in the final minute.

He initially headed off to the locker room before returning to watch the finish on the bench. He briefly walked onto the court during a delay in the action but did not play the final 34.2 seconds.

Milwaukee had a chance to win at the buzzer, but Kyle Kuzma’s 3-point heave clanked off the rim. The shorthanded Nuggets hung on for a 102-100 win.

Antetokounmpo did not appear to be 100% physically even before he was forced from the game. Earlier in the fourth quarter, Antetokounmpo walked up the court during a possession that ended with a Ryan Rollins 3-pointer. Denver called timeout after the make with 8:06 to go. Antetokounmpo remained in the game, though, when play restarted.

The two-time MVP and 2021 Finals MVP had made an earlier (brief) trip to the locker room during play in the first quarter. And, per Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, part of the USA TODAY Network, Antetokounmpo played just 6 minutes in the third quarter.

Giannis Antetokounmpo injury update

Bucks coach Doc Rivers said Antetokounmpo has a calf injury.

‘I thought he was favoring it for most of the second half, personally,’ Rivers said. ‘I asked our team five different times … I didn’t like what my eyes were seeing, personally. Giannis was defiant about staying in.

‘On that one play, you can see him trying to run down the floor, to me, I had had enough. I didn’t ask, I just took him out. He actually wanted to go back in, it just … that was a no from me.’

Antetokounmpo told reporters ‘next steps will be go to (the) MRI (Saturday)’ and he expects he’ll miss several weeks.

‘After the MRI they will tell me probably I popped something in my calf, or in my soleus or something, and probably give me protocol of 4-to-6 weeks that I’ll be out,’ Antetokounmpo said. ‘This is from my experience being around the NBA.

‘After that, I’m going to work my butt off to come back.’

The Cleveland Guardians are finalizing a seven-year, $175 million contract extension that will assure perennial All-Star third baseman José Ramirez remains with the organization through the duration of his career.

Ramirez, 33, the seven-time All-Star and six-time Silver Slugger winner, and the Guardians are restructuring his contract that add four years and $106 million to his existing deal, paying him through the age of 40, according to a person with knowledge of the negotiations.

The person, confirming Hector Gomez’s report early Saturday morning, spoke to USA TODAY Sports on on the condition of anonymity because the deal is not yet complete.

Ramirez, who’s on track for the Hall of Fame by finishing in the top six in MVP voting in seven of the last nine years, sacrificed a massive payday in free agency before the 2022 season when he signed a seven-year, $141 million contract extension. Yet, despite the criticism of signing such a team-friendly contract, he continues to profess his love for Cleveland.

“I really have a special place [in my heart] for Cleveland,’’ Ramirez told the Abriendo Sports podcast this winter. “They gave me the opportunity to play at just 16 years old and, even now, despite taking a pay cut, I’m comfortable in this city.’

Ramirez, one of the greatest players in franchise history, certainly has been the gift that keeps on giving for Cleveland. He has a 51 WAR since 2017, ranked third-highest in baseball behind only Aaron Judge and Francisco Lindor, and is paid at a massive discount rate. His new restructured contract will pay him an average of $25 million a season compared to Judge’s $40 million AAV in his nine-year, $360 million deal with the Yankees.

Two-time Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka has pulled out of the Grand Slam ahead of her scheduled third round match on Saturday due to an abdominal injury.

Her opponent, Australian Maddison Inglis, has a walkover into the fourth round.

The 16th seed Osaka, the 2019 and 2021 winner at Melbourne Park, said on social media that her body needed attention following her previous match against Sorana Cirstea.

She later said at the tournament she had been carrying the injury and had hoped to play through the pain.

‘I thought maybe if I gave myself a break before my match today, I would be able to handle it, but I warmed up, and it got a lot worse,’ she said.

‘I definitely have to do more tests, and obviously I think coming back from pregnancy, my body changed quite a lot. So this is something I have to be really cautious of.’

The pull-out is a setback for Osaka, who has been returning to her best and made the U.S. Open semi-finals last year.

At Melbourne Park, Osaka made a huge splash before her opening match against Antonia Ruzic when she entered Rod Laver Arena in a jellyfish-inspired outfit, one of the boldest fashion statements seen at a Grand Slam.

‘Obviously it was nice that everyone enjoyed my outfit, but also, I enjoyed playing the tennis here. I played two three-set matches, and I felt really physically healthy.

‘Well, I guess, not my (abdomen), but just fitness-wise it felt really good.’