Breece Hall has cheeky message on Jets free agent signings

Sometimes, the more interesting part ofNFL free agencyis the players teams choosenotto pay.

New York Jetsrunning backBreece Hall– a player stillwaiting on his big pay dayin the form of a contract extension – sent a message to his team's front office with a social media post on March 9.

"Damn we sure got a lot of money in Florham Park all these contracts dudes signing," Hall wrote on X, including three laughing emojis at the end of his post.

"I definitely be pocket watching in free agency lmao," he posted an hour later with more laughing emojis in the post.

Hall was due to become a free agent this offseason before theJetskept him in the building with afranchise tagahead of the deadline.

ESPN's Adam Schefterreportedat the time that the move was "a placeholder" while the Jets continued to work on reaching agreement on an extension with their running back.

The Iowa State product will make $14.3 million on the franchise tag in 2026 unless he signs a long-term extension in the coming months.

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Meanwhile, NFL free agency's negotiation period began on March 9. Within hours of the "legal tampering" window opening, the Jets had agreed to terms on over $100 million in contract money with a handful of free agents and an extension for safetyMinkah Fitzpatrickafteracquiring him via trade.

Despite the apparent message Hall was sending to the Jets' front office as he waits for his extension, the running back has responded positively to New York's free agent signings.

Replying to one user who speculated Hall has to be liking the Jets' moves so far, Hall wrote: "I am (not gonna lie), filling a lot of holes (right now)!!"

Hall also replied to another user's social media post, writing, "I'm happy we spending ... we need to!"

JETS NEWS:Dolphins trade Minkah Fitzpatrick to New York; safety signs new contract

OT Tytus Howard: Traded to Cleveland Browns (previous team: Houston Texans)

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> CB Trent McDuffie: Traded to Los Angeles Rams (previous team: Kansas City Chiefs)

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> RB David Montgomery: Traded to Houston Texans (previous team: Detroit Lions)

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> WR DJ Moore: Traded to Buffalo Bills (previous team: Chicago Bears)

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />

2026 NFL offseason tracker: Player signings, trades

OT Tytus Howard:Traded to Cleveland Browns(previous team: Houston Texans)

The Jets finished the 2025 season 3-14, tied for the worst record in the NFL and netting themselves the No. 2 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. Their 17.6 points per game on made them the fourth-worst scoring offense in the league last year.

Hall, in his fourth season with New York, set career highs with 243 carries and 1,065 rushing yards. He also tallied 350 receiving yards on 36 catches.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Jets' NFL free agent signings have Breece Hall 'pocket watching'

byAlex Forten

in

March 09, 2026

Breece Hall has cheeky message on Jets free agent signings

Sometimes, the more interesting part ofNFL free agencyis the players teams choosenotto pay. New York Jetsrunni...

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Ex-Chargers pass rusher Odafe Oweh reportedly agrees to 4-year, $100 million deal with Commanders

Pass rusher Odafe Oweh has agreed to terms with the Washington Commanders on a 4-year, $100 million deal in free agency,NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported Monday.

The contract comes with $68 million in guaranteed money, per the report.

With the deal, the Commanders add a much-needed upgrade to a defense that ranked last in the league in yards allowed and 28th in pass defense last season. Oweh, 27, is a high-end pass rusher in his prime, two seasons removed from posting a career-high 10 sacks with the Baltimore Ravens in 2024.

The Commanders also reportedly agreed on Monday to a three-year, $24 million dealwith 28-year-old defensive tackle Tim Settle, who started 23 games for the Houston Texans over the course of the last two seasons.

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Commanders add much-needed pass rush help

Oweh joined the Chargers last season as a short-term rental to upgrade their pass rush via an in-season deal with the Ravens ahead of the trade deadline. He played 12 games with the Chargers after the trade, tallying 7.5 sacks, 13 quarterback hits, 28 combined tackles and 8 tackles for loss.

Prior to the trade, Oweh was struggling with the Ravens on the heels of his career season and failed to record a sack in his five 2025 games with Baltimore. Now, thanks to his strong finish with the Chargers, Oweh has a lucrative deal to play for a Commanders team in desperate need of help in the pass rush.

Oweh immediately slots in as Washington's top pass rusher. Von Miller led the Commanders with nine sacks last season at 36 years old. He was playing on a one-year contract and is now a free agent. No other Commanders player recorded more than 5.5 sacks last season.

Dorance Armstrong Jr. is Washington's returning leader in sacks after posting 5.5 in 2025. Jake Martin also recorded 5.5 sacks, but is a pending free agent.

Washington is looking to bounce back from a disappointing 5-12 campaign on the heels of advancing to the NFC championship game after the 2024 season. In addition to a return to health for quarterback Jayden Daniels, getting younger and better on defense is key to those hopes.

byAlex Forten

in

March 09, 2026

Ex-Chargers pass rusher Odafe Oweh reportedly agrees to 4-year, $100 million deal with Commanders

Pass rusher Odafe Oweh has agreed to terms with the Washington Commanders on a 4-year, $100 million deal in free agenc...

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'Fixer' in massive point-shaving scheme that rigged college basketball games pleads guilty

A North Carolina man pleaded guilty on Monday to charges connected to his "leadership role" in a massive point-shaving operation that rigged dozens of college basketball games.

Jalen Smith, a 30-year-old Charlotte resident, was the first of 26 defendants to admit to criminal wrongdoing in the sprawling scheme thatbrought a federal prosecutionout of Philadelphia earlier this year.

During a hearing before U.S. District Court Judge Nitza I. Quiñones Alejandro, Smith pleaded guilty to bribery, wire fraud and illegal possession of a firearm.

The defendant was a "fixer" who recruited players "to underperform and help ensure their team failed to cover the spread in games during the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 NCAA men's basketball seasons," according to a statement by federal prosecutors.

Smith was crucial in the operation, authorities said.

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"Smith had a leadership role in the scheme, particularly in recruiting, managing, and paying players for their roles," prosecutors said.

With players agreeing to take a dive, Smith and his cohorts "helped to arrange for large wagers to be placed on those games, betting against the team whose player or players they had bribed to engage in this point-shaving scheme," the prosecutors said.

The point-shaving operation involved "more than 39 players on more than 17 different NCAA Division I men's basketball teams who then fixed and attempted to fix more than 29 NCAA games," according to prosecutors.

The bribery charge carries a maximum sentence of 5 years behind bars, wire fraud tops out at 20 years and the firearms violation could bring up to 20 years in prison.

Smith's attorney could not immediately be reached by NBC News reached for comment on Monday afternoon.

byAlex Forten

in

March 09, 2026

'Fixer' in massive point-shaving scheme that rigged college basketball games pleads guilty

A North Carolina man pleaded guilty on Monday to charges connected to his "leadership role" in a massive point-...

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Karla Sofia Gascón weighs in on Timothée Chalamet's opera and ballet drama: 'Best of luck with the awards'

Karla Sofia Gascónhas entered the chat.

The Academy Award-nominated actress is the latest boldface name to weigh in on the drama betweenTimothée Chalametandpretty much everyone who enjoys the performing arts. On Monday, Gascónrepostedan Instagram meme that combines a picture of Chalamet'sMarty Supremecharacter with her own fromEmilia Pérez, making it look like they're talking on the phone. The meme is captioned "Hola Karla, do u think they gonna make me pass the red carpet at the Oscars?" —a reference to the PR nightmare the first openly transgender Best Actress nominee found herself inlast year after a series of provocative posts from her X account resurfaced.

In the Instagram Story, Gascón added her own commentary. "Are you a Trans woman? Then don't worry about it, Tim," she wrote in a large red font.

"Besides, I love ballet slippers and I've seenPhantom of the Operaten times," she continued, adding a sticker of pink ballet slippers. "Not sure if that counts for anything. Best of luck with the awards."

Below that, in even smaller type, Gascón compared her and Chalamet's controversies."Even though no one has seen or heard me say anything, while they have both seen and heard you, people still seem to prefer believing whatever the bad guys claim I said."

Gascón previously apologized for her since-deleted posts, which used language that disparaged Islam and contained troubling comments about the murder of George Floyd, diversity at the Oscars, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the COVID-19 vaccine. As a result of the backlash, Gascón skipped the Oscars red carpet in 2025, though she did attend the ceremony.

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Chalamet's remark that "no one cares" about ballet and opera during a February Variety/CNN has sparked a firestorm of criticism from within and without the worlds of those two art forms. TheDunestar was called "vapid" and "shallow" by the hosts ofThe View, and in a now-deleted TikTok video, Doja Cat offered a rejoinder to Chalamet.

"The dancers care, the singers care, the audience cares," she said. "There's still an audience. People give a f---. You show up in a nice outfit. You sit the f--- down and shut the f--- up. That's the usual etiquette around those things. Maybe learn something from that."

Meanwhile, an Instagram post from The Metropolitan Opera captioned "This one's for you, @tchalamet… 👀" celebrated the craftsmanship of the company's many performers and artisans.

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A videotaken by TikTok user @thealienstookover and reposted Saturdayshows Chalamet making a similar statement at a promotional event in 2019.

"No 'woe is me' thing, but you start working on movies, you start acting, pursuing your thing," Chalamet says in the video. "I started getting the sense it was maybe opera or ballet or something, it's kind of like a dying art form or something."

Read the original article onEntertainment Weekly

byAlex Forten

in

March 09, 2026

Karla Sofia Gascón weighs in on Timothée Chalamet's opera and ballet drama: 'Best of luck with the awards'

Karla Sofia Gascónhas entered the chat. The Academy Award-nominated actress is the latest boldface name to wei...

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Conan O'Brien opens up about his 'name being attached' to the deaths of Rob and Michele Reiner

Conan O'Brienis getting ready to host Sunday'sOscars, which will include atributeto the late actor and filmmakerRob Reiner. Ahead of the ceremony, O'Brien opened up about the "sadness" surroundingthe lossof his close friend.

The comedian hosted a holiday party in December that Reiner and his wife, Michele, attended the night before they were found stabbed to death.

"Very simply, we had a party, we invited our really good friends and then, the next day, this terrible thing happened,"O'Brien toldThe Hollywood Reporterof his name being connected to the tragic events. "Whatever difficulties my wife and I have experienced having our name attached to it are nothing compared to the scale of the tragedy for the family and the loss of Rob and Michele. If you're a known person, your name is going to get dragged into things sometimes, but it is not a hardship. There is only sadness that they're gone."

The Reiners were found dead in their home in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, Calif., on Dec. 14, and their son Nick was subsequently arrested andchargedwith murder.Sources later told PEOPLEthat Rob and Nick hadengaged in a heated argumentat O'Brien's Dec. 13 party, with one person telling the outlet that Nick was "freaking everyone out, acting crazy, kept asking people if they were famous." Another report fromNBC Newssaid that Nick's behavior left his parents and other guests feeling uncomfortable.

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Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with ourEW Dispatch newsletter.

O'Brien toldTHRthat he has opted not to address the loss of the Reiners on his own podcast because that felt "disrespectful." The comedian did previously open up about his relationship with the Reiners in aNew Yorkerprofile.

"I knew Rob and Michele, and then increasingly got closer and closer to them, and I was seeing them a lot,"he said. "My wife and I were seeing them a lot, and they were so — they were just such lovely people. And to have that experience of saying good night to somebody and having them leave and then find out the next day that they're gone. … I think I was in shock for quite a while afterward."

"It's just so awful," O'Brien continued. "And I think about how Rob felt about things that are happening in the country, how involved he was, how much he put himself out there — and to have that voice go quiet in an instant is still hard for me to comprehend."

Nick Reiner has pleaded not guilty to the murder charges, and his next hearing is set for April 29.

The 2026 Oscars air Sunday on ABC at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. The ceremony will also stream on Hulu.

Read the original article onEntertainment Weekly

byAlex Forten

in

March 09, 2026

Conan O'Brien opens up about his 'name being attached' to the deaths of Rob and Michele Reiner

Conan O'Brienis getting ready to host Sunday'sOscars, which will include atributeto the late actor and filmmakerR...

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“The View” cohosts slam 'vapid' and 'shallow' Timothée Chalamet over anti-opera comments: 'Be careful, boy'

The View cohosts have spoken out against Timothée Chalamet's anti-opera comments.

Key Points

• Sunny Hostin called Chalamet "vapid" and "shallow" over his words.

• Whoopi Goldberg advised, "Be careful, boy," after the Marty Supreme star said "no one cares" about those specific performing arts disciplines.

The Viewcohosts have entered a ping-pong match of words againstMarty SupremeOscar nomineeTimothée Chalamet.

Amid public blowback to theHollywood superstar's recent jabs againstthe popularity of opera and ballet, EGOT-winning actressWhoopi Goldberg, legal expertSunny Hostin, and guest cohostSheryl Underwoodall took aim at Chalamet's words on Monday's broadcast ofThe View.

Hostin advised that "ballet is hard," and told the audience, "I'm offended and disappointed in what he said. I didn't realize he was that vapid and that shallow."

Underwood, a comedian and lifelong Republican filling in for conservative cohost Alyssa Farah Griffin, chalked the 30-year-old Chalamet's ill-advised words up to "being young."

"I think he thought he could say that," she added. "First, he just made the good ping-pong movie. He's a young, handsome man, but I bet if he was playing [dancer] Rudolf Nureyev… he'd respect the art form a little bit better."

"That goes to show a lot of young people need to understand, don't just flip off and say something," Underwood said. "Really understand that your words have meaning to other young people. I think he can do it."

Underwood then looked toward the audience at home to deliver a cheeky message: "But, also, where's the camera at so I can speak to Timothée personally: Young man, if you would like to come and talk to me about this, I'm willing to hear your thoughts."

Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with ourEW Dispatch newsletter.

"Yes, correct, I'll join you," Hostin quipped, while Underwood exclaimed, "Tag team!"

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Goldberg then stepped in, reacting to the aforementioned bit with a firm, "Yeah, no," before adding her thoughts on the matter.

"You come from a dance family, so when you crap on somebody else's art form, it doesn't feel good," theGhostandColor Purplestar said, referencing Chalamet's mother and sister's involvement in the arts he criticized. "You probably didn't realize, until you said, 'Oh, I'm in trouble,' but then you compounded it and said, '14 cents.' No, when people get mad, it'll be a lot more than 14 cents, so be careful. I'm just saying. Be careful, boy."

After the cohosts and audience reacted in light shock over Goldberg's assessment, she doubled down: "He is a boy to me," she said. "No disrespect. Really, don't apologize when you've insulted. It doesn't sound right. You can't say, 'Oh, this is dumb, no disrespect.' That's absolute disrespect."

Entertainment Weeklyhas reached out to representatives for Chalamet for a response.

"I don't want to be working in ballet or opera, or things where it's like, 'Hey, keep this thing alive, even though no one cares about this anymore,'" Chalamet said in a recent town halldiscussionwith fellow actorMatthew McConaughey. "All respect to the ballet and opera people out there. I just lost 14 cents in viewership. I just took shots for no reason."

Chalamet's remarks also drew a response from the esteemed Metropolitan Opera, the Instagram account for which recentlyposted a videospotlighting the intense craftsmanship that goes into its productions.

"This one's for you, @tchalamet," the account wrote, tagging the four-time Oscar-nominee in the caption. "All respect to the opera (and ballet) people out there."

The Viewairs weekdays on ABC.

Read the original article onEntertainment Weekly

byAlex Forten

in

March 09, 2026

“The View” cohosts slam 'vapid' and 'shallow' Timothée Chalamet over anti-opera comments: 'Be careful, boy'

The View cohosts have spoken out against Timothée Chalamet's anti-opera comments. Key Points Sunny Hostin...

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Gas and travel prices could continue to spiral as tanker traffic stalls near Iran

The price of oil surging over the weekend sent global markets into a frenzy.

The price of a barrel of crude oil topped $100 on Monday for the first time since 2022.

American drivers are already feeling the pain at the pump.

The average price for a gallon of regular gas on Monday was $3.48, up nearly 50 cents from a week ago.

And prices could continue to increase with oil tankers held up in the Strait of Hormuz.

"Gas prices will likely continue advancing. Oil prices will likely keep climbing until that oil can move again," said GasBuddy's Patrick de Haan.

RELATED NEWS |Crude oil prices spike near $120 a barrel as the Iran war impedes production and shipping

That will impact air travel, too, because airlines are dependent on jet fuel from crude oil.

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"Airline prices will be immediate, both in terms of demand destruction, because the prices are going to go up so much that there's a lot of people who may be traveling who decide not to travel," said Babak Hefezi, Adjunct Professor of International Business at American University.

But economists and analysts say a hold up on movement in the Strait of Hormuz, including cargo ships, has the potential to ripple across all parts of global economies.

"The waterway is key for a whole host of products and also oil used in other industries. So we can expect people to pay more for their petrol, more for their food, more for almost any good you can think of, really," said Chris Beauchamp, Chief Marketing Analyst for IG.

MORE ON IRAN |Iran launches regional strikes as Israel hits fuel depots in widening war

Over the weekend, President Trump appeared to downplay the growing problem.

"But there's a lot of oil, we've got a lot of oil. Our country has a tremendous amount that we have. There's a lot of oil out there that will get used very quickly," he said.

The U.S. only gets a fraction of its oil from the Middle East. But that doesn't mean Americans won't feel the aftershocks of this conflict.

"The damages that have been already done to the ports are not something that we can just stop the war and everything will back to normal. This is something that's going to take 12 to 18 months to fix," Hefezi said.

byAlex Forten

in

March 09, 2026

Gas and travel prices could continue to spiral as tanker traffic stalls near Iran

The price of oil surging over the weekend sent global markets into a frenzy. The price of a barrel o...

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