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CHICAGO — Last year, Chicago Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga wowed fans when he took the mound at Wrigley Field for Chicago’s home opener before going on to have a stellar season — Imanaga’s first in the majors.

The pitcher, also known as the “Throwing Philosopher,” went 15-3 for the Cubs in 2024, racking up 174 strikeouts to go along with a 2.91 ERA. The 31-year-old had previously played professionally in Japan from 2016 to 2023.

In the States, Imanaga soon became a fan favorite not only for how well he pitched, but also for his charisma, sense of humor, and his long, flowing hair.

Watch “NBC Nightly News” tonight at 6:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. CT.

“You’re saying I have the best hair?” a laughing Imanaga told NBC News through a translator when asked about his free-flowing locks.

“My teammates, if I’m drying my hair, if I’m combing my hair, they compliment me, telling me I have beautiful hair,” Imanaga said. “But my mom and my friends are like, it’s probably time to cut your hair.”

It’s not only the hair that’s helped Imanaga endear himself to the Wrigley faithful. During his rookie year, the pitcher decided on “Chelsea Dagger” as his walk-up song, a tune more famously known in Chicago as the goal song for the NHL’s Blackhawks, dating back well over a decade to the hockey team’s heyday.

“When I first got to the Cubs, I think a lot of the fans were, ‘Who is this pitcher?’” Imanaga said. “And so for me, it was really important to get acclimated with the team, with the fans. What was important was to pick something that all the Chicago fans love.”

Imanaga’s countryman, outfielder Seiya Suzuki, employs a similar ethos when asked about his favorite ballpark food, saying he would have to go with hot dogs, “especially” considering the team he plays for.

Suzuki joined the Cubs in 2022 after a nine-year career in Japan, and he and Imanaga have since played key roles in helping turn around the team’s fortunes. After back-to-back losing seasons, Chicago posted two winning records in each of the last two years.

Suzuki and Imanaga have become global stars in the process and are part of a growing Japanese presence in Major League Baseball. In April, the Cubs opened the season in Tokyo against the Los Angeles Dodgers, who feature three Japanese-born players in Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki.

“When I was younger, I watched baseball in the U.S., and I thought it was really cool,” Suzuki said. “So if when I’m playing and the fans in Japan, even if it’s one extra person gets to watch, and they want to come to the U.S. to enjoy baseball or something like that, I think that’d be great.”

While both Suzuki and Imanaga have pushed the right buttons with their home fans, Chicago’s current objective is to get Imanaga back on the mound. He hasn’t started a game since May 4, when he left a start against the Brewers with a hamstring injury.

The Cubs placed Imanaga, whose jersey is the team’s most popular this season, on the 15-day injured list the next day. He’s currently progressing toward a return in early June, ramping up his rehab with some bullpen work.

Chicago is currently first in the NL Central.

More than 600 members of the Broadway community condemned Patti LuPone in an open letter Friday after the three-time Tony winner made controversial comments about fellow stars Kecia Lewis and Audra McDonald.

The letter, addressed to The American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League, comes in response to a profile published in The New Yorker this week in which LuPone called Lewis a “b—-” and McDonald “not a friend.”

“This language is not only degrading and misogynistic — it is a blatant act of racialized disrespect. It constitutes bullying. It constitutes harassment,” the letter says.

Theater publication Playbill reported signatories to the letter include Tony winners James Monroe Iglehart, Maleah Joi Moon and Wendell Pierce.

Lewis currently stars in “Hell’s Kitchen” on Broadway, for which she won a 2024 Tony Award. McDonald won the 2014 Tony Award for best actress in a play (her sixth) and is the first performer to win the award in all performance categories. She is nominated for the 11th time this year for her lead performance in the musical “Gypsy.”

As of Saturday, the letter had garnered 682 signatures, according to a document that allows people to request the addition of their names.

“Individuals, including Patti Lupone, who use their platform to publicly demean, harass, or disparage fellow artists — particularly with racial, gendered, or otherwise violent language — should not be welcomed at industry events, including the Tony Awards, fundraisers, and public programs,” the letter said.

The American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League — which present the Tony Awards, set to be held on June 8 — did not immediately respond to NBC News’ requests for comment. LuPone also did not immediately respond.

In the New Yorker interview, LuPone was asked about a controversy that circulated during her time co-starring in “The Roommate” with Mia Farrow last fall. The play, which has since closed, shared a wall with the Tony-winning musical “Hell’s Kitchen,” featuring Lewis.

LuPone reportedly asked for the sound design of “Hell’s Kitchen” to be adjusted because the music would bleed through the shared walls, and sent the sound and stage management team flowers and a thank-you note once it was fixed.

Lewis posted a video on Instagram in November in response, calling LuPone’s actions “racially microaggressive” and “rooted in privilege.”

Producers of “The Roommate” posted a statement the following day thanking the “Hell’s Kitchen” staff for the fix, saying, “These kinds of sound accommodations from one show to another are not unusual and are always deeply appreciated.”

LuPone said of the back-and-forth in The New Yorker interview: “Let’s find out how many Broadway shows Kecia Lewis has done, because she doesn’t know what the f— she’s talking about. … She’s done seven. I’ve done thirty-one. Don’t call yourself a vet, b—-.”

The New Yorker noted that Lewis has actually done 10 shows and LuPone 28.

Michael Schulman, the interviewer, mentioned to LuPone that McDonald — who holds the record as the Broadway performer with the most Tony Awards and nominations — gave the video “supportive emojis.”

The 76-year-old actor responded: “And I thought, ‘You should know better.’ That’s typical of Audra. She’s not a friend.”

McDonald was asked about LuPone’s comments in a “CBS Mornings” interview with Gayle King to discuss her latest Tony-nominated role as Mama Rose in “Gypsy.”

“If there’s a rift between us, I don’t know what it is,” McDonald said in a clip CBS shared on social media ahead of the full interview, which airs next week. “That’s something that you’d have to ask Patti about.”

The open letter said LuPone’s attempt to “discredit” McDonald’s legacy was not only a personal offense, but “a public affront to the values of collaboration, equity, and mutual respect that our theater community claims to uphold.”

PARIS — It’s been 30 years since three American men reached Week 2 at the French Open. Back then, it was Andre Agassi, Michael Chang and Jim Courier — each of whom won the tournament at some point.

This go-round, the trio is Tommy Paul, Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe, all scheduled to be on court Sunday in fourth-round action at Roland-Garros.

“Yeah, about time,” joked Jessica Pegula, who advanced Saturday to give the U.S. at least three women in the round of 16. “It’s exciting to see. Obviously you want to see your fellow countrymen do well on the other side, and I’m always actually keeping up with them quite a lot. So I hope they keep it going.”

Who do the American men left in the French Open play on Sunday?

Won’t be easy, of course, perhaps especially for the 13th-seeded Shelton, the big-serving lefty who goes up against defending champion Carlos Alcaraz of Spain for a berth in the quarterfinals. No. 12 Paul takes on No. 25 Alexei Popyrin of Australia; No. 15 Tiafoe meets unseeded Daniel Altmaier of Germany.

Not since Courier and Pete Sampras in 1996 have multiple Americans made it to the quarterfinals in Paris.

Historically, the slower red clay used at the French Open has not been particularly kind to men from the United States. Some of that is simply that they tend to grow up playing mostly on hard courts, which reward a big-strike style of hard-hitting tennis, and so they are not as accustomed to the patience and footwork required on the red dirt.

“I really do think everyone can play on this surface,” said Paul, an Australian Open semifinalist two years ago. “I remind myself it’s just tennis.”

But for years, Paul said, he was not excited to participate in the French Open. And that’s coming from someone who won the event’s junior title as a teen in 2015.

“Now I come over here and I look at it as an opportunity,” said Paul, 28, who grew up in North Carolina. “I think all the Americans do.”

Andre Agassi in 1999 was the last US man to win the Roland-Garros title

Agassi, in 1999, was the last American man to win the trophy at the French Open — and the nation hasn’t had a male finalist since then. Before that, it was Courier in 1991 and 1992. Before that, it was Chang in 1989. And before that, you have to go all the way back to Tony Trabert in 1954 and 1955.

American women have had much more success: 15 singles titles in the Open era, including seven for Chris Evert and three for Serena Williams, plus 13 runner-up showings, most recently by Coco Gauff in 2022.

“It’s super critical not to worry about what was and just worry about what is,” said Tiafoe, a 27-year-old from Maryland who twice made the semifinals at the hard-court U.S. Open but began his Roland-Garros career by going 0-6. “Currently we’re at the French Open, and just try to be elite. This is where it counts. So guys just believe it.”

Unlike in New York, where Tiafoe is the center of attention and a fan favorite, a scene he loves — “There is so much anticipation; there’s so much energy” — Paris, he said, presents “a different vibe” and “more of a low-key kind of thing.”

So far, so good.

Ben Shelton tries to stop the defending champion in Paris

There wasn’t likely to be anything low key about Shelton vs. Alcaraz in the main stadium, Court Philippe-Chatrier. They are among the flashiest, most entertaining athletes in men’s tennis at the moment.

Alcaraz is seeded No. 2. At 22, the same age as Shelton — who won an NCAA title for the University of Florida — Alcaraz already owns four Grand Slam titles, with at least one each on the clay at the French Open, the grass at Wimbledon and the hard courts at the U.S. Open.

“That’s a pretty cool opportunity, pretty cool experience, that not a lot of people get or see in their lifetime,” said Shelton, a semifinalist at the U.S. Open in 2023 and the Australian Open in January but 2-2 at Roland-Garros before this year. “For me, I’m definitely going to enjoy it and go out there and see what I can do, because I’m starting to gain some speed, gain a little bit of traction, on this surface and starting to see some of my best tennis. I like to think of myself as dangerous whenever I get to that place.”

Seeking a pardon from President Donald Trump has become big business for lobbying and consulting firms close to the administration, with wealthy hopefuls willing to spend millions of dollars for help getting their case in front of the right people.

“From a lobbying perspective, pardons have gotten profitable,” said one lobbyist whose firm has received such calls.

There’s no set rate for pardon help. But two people directly familiar with proposals to lobbying firms said they knew of a client’s offer of $5 million to help get a case to Trump. These people, like others, were granted anonymity to speak candidly. And while such high numbers do not seem to be standard, they speak to a burgeoning pardon economy.

A $5 million figure is higher than numbers The New York Times reported Trump allies receiving for pardon help in his first term. In 2021, the outlet reported that Brett Tolman, a former federal prosecutor who advised the White House on pardons, was receiving five-figure amounts for the work, according to filings and a client. The Times also reported that John Kiriakou, a former CIA officer convicted of disclosing classified information, was told that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a Trump ally, could help secure him a pardon for $2 million; Giuliani disputed that account.

Cozying up to a president’s allies or hiring lobbyists to gain access to clemency isn’t new. But along with the price spike, what’s different now is that Trump is issuing pardons on a rolling basis — rather than most coming at the end of the administration.

“It’s like the Wild West,” a Trump ally and lobbyist said. “You can basically charge whatever you want.”

The increased use of the pardon power has some familiar with the process concerned about the appearance of financial and political favoritism that can erode confidence in the clemency process.

“This is very destructive to our justice system. It delegitimizes the pardon power,” said Elizabeth Oyer, who served as pardon attorney for the Department of Justice during President Joe Biden’s administration. “It entrenches a two-tier system of justice in which wealth really can be a get-out-of-jail-free card.”

“All pardon and commutation decisions are solely made by President Trump, who is always willing to give well-deserving Americans a second chance — especially those who have been unfairly targeted by a corrupt justice system,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said.

Since Trump took office in January, he has pardoned or granted executive clemency to more than 1,500 people, most related to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. It’s a significant uptick from a similar time frame during his first term in office. Even without the Jan. 6 defendants, Trump has pardoned 58 people; in his previous administration, Trump had pardoned just one person in his first year.

In the past week alone, Trump has pardoned or commuted the sentences of 27 people.

Many clemency recipients have been people with the means to elevate their case — allies, donors, celebrities and former politicians.

There is a process for vetting pardon applications through the Justice Department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney, but presidents have not always followed it.

Some of the pardons Trump is granting, involving people currently incarcerated, would not be able to make it through the typical process. Unless the Justice Department grants a waiver, the regulations say that petitioners need to wait until five years after either the conviction or the end of their sentence, and they place a premium on acceptance of responsibility.

As of this week, there are 6,394 applications for commutations and 1,529 applications for pardons.

Not every Trump-aligned lobbyist is eager to take pardon work; some who have turned down offers said they have passed them along to a small handful of Trump supporters who then help the pardon-seeker get on the president’s radar.

In some cases, referral fees are paid to the lobbying firms even if they are not directly engaged to do the work, according to three people familiar with the process.

“There are others, like us, who have turned down a bunch of that work, but generally the way that works is that they get referred to others who are helping,” said a Washington-based lobbyist whose firm has been approached by people seeking a pardon.

The person said that roughly half their client inquiries in recent months have been for pardon help. In the past, it was roughly 1 in 50 client solicitations.

The Trump ally who is also a lobbyist said their firm is not taking pardon clients out of concern that they could face blowback when the political winds inevitably change. Another lobbyist said they turn down pardon work because it feels “sketchy.”

Getting in front of the right people

In a case that drew significant attention this week, Trump pardoned reality-TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, who were convicted in 2022 on fraud and tax evasion-related charges. The two built a national following through their reality show “Chrisley Knows Best.”

The pardons came after a public pressure campaign led by their daughter Savannah, a prominent Trump supporter with nearly 3 million followers on Instagram.

Key to reaching Trump is pushing a message that will appeal to the president, particularly one around a politicization of justice by Democrats or overzealous prosecutors.

“Weaponization is real,” said Tolman, who is now a Fox News contributor and the executive director of the conservative-leaning criminal justice reform group Right on Crime. “If you are in power and you are willing to use the power of the prosecution to go after your political adversaries, how do we fix it?”

His comments came during a 2024 panel at the Conservative Political Action Conference focused on the “weaponization” of the justice system. The panel also included now-Attorney General Pam Bondi and Savannah Chrisley, who used the platform to talk about her parents’ case.

Tolman has become one of the go-tos for help when people are seeking Trump pardons. He helped the Chrisleys, as well as Charles Kushner, the father of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. At the end of Trump’s first term, he also lobbied Trump to pardon Ross Ulbricht, who in 2015 was sentenced to life in prison on narcotics and money-laundering charges related to his dark web marketplace Silk Road. Getting Ulbricht out of prison became a cause célèbre to many on the political right who thought he was unjustly targeted by the justice system.

During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump promised to pardon Ulbricht, and he did so as one of his first acts after taking office.

Tolman did not respond to a request seeking comment.

Other Trump allies who have played influential roles in the pardon process over the past few weeks include Washington attorney Adam Katz, who previously represented Giuliani and helped secure a sentence commutation for a California businesswoman in Trump’s first term.

Katz did not return a request seeking comment, but lobbyists interviewed by NBC News named him, along with Tolman, as two of the people to whom they refer pardon work.

Corcoran Partners, a Florida-based lobbying firm whose managing partner includes Matt Blair, the brother of Trump deputy chief of staff James Blair, has also registered to lobby on federal pardon issues for the first time. In March, Matt Blair’s firm registered to lobby on “pardon” issues for Juno Empire Inc., a Miami-based company that is identified in federal lobbying records as a “medical billing advocate.” It’s not clear what this company does or what its issue is, and there was no contact information available for Juno. Corcoran Partners did not return a request for comment.

Longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone also registered in February to lobby for Roger Ver, who is nicknamed “Bitcoin Jesus” and, if extradited from Spain, faces up to 109 years in prison for, among other things, allegations that he tried to evade nearly $50 million in tax payments. It’s the first time Stone’s firm, Drake Ventures, formally registered to lobby on pardon issues, records show. An attorney for Ver did not return a request for comment.

Some lawyers also see new hope for their clients in Trump’s willingness to issue pardons. Tim Parlatore, a former member of Trump’s legal team, represented Adm. Robert Burke, who was convicted in May of bribery. Parlatore told NBC News that he had unsuccessfully attempted to get Justice Department leadership to reconsider the Burke case before it went to trial, and that he’d try to secure a pardon now that Burke has been convicted.

“I think I have a great appeal for Burke, but will I go and ask for a pardon? Absolutely! You’d be crazy not to,” he said. “The way that that case was investigated and presented, I believe, was fundamentally unfair.”

Parlatore said he wanted to “pursue all possible remedies” for his client.

“I’ll go to call people and try to figure this thing out, whether it’s Ed Martin, Alice Johnson,” he said, referring to Trump’s pardon attorney and his more informal “pardon czar.” “I just want to make sure that that gets in front of the right people to make a decision.”

‘Easier after Hunter’s pardon’

The president’s pardon power, a vestige of the British monarchy, is largely unchecked. Trump isn’t the first person to face criticism for controversial pardons.

But the perception that Trump is leaning into rewarding supporters was boosted last week when Martin, Trump’s current pardon attorney, openly signaled the political motivations for the pardon given to Scott Jenkins. The former Virginia sheriff was facing 10 years in prison after a federal jury found him guilty of taking $75,000 in return for doling out law enforcement authority to local businessmen, as well as two undercover FBI special agents.

“No MAGA left behind,” Martin posted on X after the pardon was announced.

One staffer familiar with the pardon process said Martin and the administration were trying to “undo the damage from weaponization,” often choosing to pardon people they felt were unfairly targeted.

“You have a president who’s going to exercise his presidential powers that he has from the Constitution, whether or not there’s some guidebook,” they said. “He does it on trade, he does it on immigration, and he does it everywhere.”

That staffer and other Trump allies argue that it was Biden’s use of the power that has set the precedent under which they are currently operating. Biden pardoned or commuted the sentences of more than 8,000 people, including to his son Hunter, who was set to be sentenced on federal gun charges just weeks before the pardon was issued. On the way out of office, he also issued pre-emptive pardons for some members of his family, worried Trump would try to prosecute them.

An administration official called Biden’s pardon decisions an “absolutely earth-shattering departure from presidential norms.”

Trump supporters argue the potential hit to a president’s reputation that previously existed for the perception of politicizing the clemency process is no longer there.

“It’s become easier after Hunter’s pardon. Long gone are the days of an eleventh-hour pardon. It has become more transactional,” the Trump ally and lobbyist said.

Beyond increased payments to lobbying firms to help secure pardons, family members of those seeking pardons have also found it useful to amplify their platform by going on conservative media outlets that Trump is known to watch or appear in MAGA-friendly spaces.

Savannah Chrisley, for example, spoke at the Republican National Convention and suggested her parents were targeted for being conservative. During a press conference Friday, she said it was a “misconception” that she “either paid for a pardon or slept for a pardon” for her parents.

She said she simply went to Washington and made sure she was in “the right room at the right time” and “begged for meetings.”

“Many people have come on my OAN program to make their case for pardons,” former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, who became a news anchor for One America News Network after Trump unsuccessfully tried to install him as attorney general, told NBC News. “Some have not. Some might get granted in the future. I trust President Trump’s judgment.”

Gaetz says he himself has not officially focused on pardon work but said his show, like others, can help amplify a pardon-seeker’s case.

“I’ve covered pardons as a journalist,” he said. “One way people get on the pardon radar is coming on my show and making their case on other media President Trump is known to watch.”

Sports Illustrated swimsuit model and former LSU gymnast Livvy Dunne said in a TikTok video Friday that she’s fearful she is being stalked in airports.

The 22-year-old, who has built a large social media following, said that whenever she is at an airport, she encounters what she described as “at least 10 middle-aged men” who harass her and attempt to get her autograph.

“They have a like a stack of 40 pictures of me or my magazines and they will run after me down the TSA PreCheck line and yell at me if I don’t give them my autograph,” Dunne said.

Dunne said the men make a scene and scare other travelers who happen to be nearby. The SI model then shared a video of her crying Friday morning after a red-eye flight, saying a group of men circled her at baggage claim.

The harassment occurs when Dunne is attending big events or going on family vacations, she said in the video. In the caption, she wrote that the men know the “time, place, airport, everything.”

“I know I’m chronically online and I post my life, but I’m talking about like a 20-minute connecting flight through Omaha, Nebraska,” Dunne said. “They would be waiting there. I’m not making content on a connecting flight.”

Dunne did not immediately respond to an NBC News request for comment.

Dunne also said the same issue happens to another female athlete, track-and-field star Gabby Thomas, who took home gold in the women’s 200 meters at the Paris Olympics.

Thomas posted a video on TikTok in January describing a similar experience to Dunne’s — saying a group of three to six middle-aged men harass her to sign about 40 pictures of herself when she travels through airports.

The men would sometimes appear at Thomas’ gate, she said, “which means they have flight tickets and they get past security and all that.” Thomas added that the men will get “aggressive and hostile” if she refuses to sign the photos.

“I don’t know how they’re getting my flight information and it’s really starting to freak me out,” she said.

The Patriots apparently aren’t digging Stefon.

Scott Zolak, who calls Patriots games on the radio and thus has a much greater connection to the team than the garden-variety talking chowderhead, believes the Patriots may cut receiver Stefon Diggs.

“I came to this show yesterday with the opinion — not opinion, but the knowledge that it is on the table,” Zolak recently said during his weekday radio program on 98.5 The Sports Hub, via NBCSportsBoston.com. “That it is being thought of.”

Zolak pointed out the possibility arises from something more than the pink powder club video that emerged this week of Diggs on a yacht.

“[I]t’s not just the boat,” Zolak said. “It’s not just the boat. There are some other things that I’ve heard that put some things in question. Are you all-in here?”

Still, Zolak believes Diggs should be retained.

“The videos look great of him working out,” Zolak said. “I’ve touted the videos. I know you need diva receivers. I say he shouldn’t be cut, because I think he would help Drake Maye and this offense and Josh McDaniels, because you would have a true viable guy that would set coverage. Right now, you still don’t have a guy who sets coverage.”

Diggs signed a contract that fully guarantees $16.6 million at signing. But the contract includes broad language regarding his pre-existing knee injury, resulting from a torn ACL suffered during the 2024 season.

Here’s the real question, which we’re currently trying to answer. Can the Patriots walk away from the Diggs deal at any point before he passes a physical and owe him nothing?

Regardless of the financial niceties, Zolak said the possibility of cutting Diggs is on the table. Is it a message to Diggs from the organization to become “all-in”? Or is it a prediction that could come to fruition?

Either way, it makes sense to watch the situation closely.

When Dolphins G.M. Chris Grier was asked in April about a potential trade of receiver Tyreek Hill, Grier didn’t shoot it down.

“If someone wants to come and give me two first round picks then we’d consider it,” Grier said. “But, as of right now, it’s not something we’re considering.”

That could change in a couple of days. Given the realities of Hill’s contract (re-done in 2024), it makes sense for the Dolphins to hold Hill until June 2 or later. That’s when the cap consequences can be spread over two years.

For now, Hill has $28.296 million in unallocated bonus money that will hit the cap. A pre-June 1 trade means all of it lands in 2025. A post-June 1 trade limits the 2025 dead money to $12.728 million, with the remaining $15.568 million landing on the cap in 2026.

The same dynamic has always meant cornerback Jalen Ramsey won’t be traded until after June 1. And it means that any potential trade of Hill wouldn’t happen until after June 1, too.

It all comes down to whether a team is waiting for the calendar to migrate past May before making the call. And, more broadly, to whether another team is interested in taking on Hill’s contract, which pays out $25.85 million fully guaranteed in 2025.

While no one will offer a pair of first-round picks for Hill, Grier’s comment from mid-April operates as an invitation to make an offer. Although Grier has disputed that the Dolphins are in a rebuilding year, the sudden interest in moving Ramsey suggests they are at least refocusing.

They need players who are fully bought in. Despite Hill’s ongoing effort to clean up the mess he made by telling the truth after the end of the 2024 regular season, he wasn’t bought in. And even if he has somehow changed his mind, all it will take is a few losses in which he gets fewer targets than he expected, and the frustrations will return.

It makes sense for the Dolphins to consider the opportunity to get a clean slate, if someone calls. The only question is whether there’s another team that would be interested in taking on Hill’s $25.85 million compensation package for 2025 — and in giving the Dolphins whatever it would take to get them to clear out a key player who may not truly believe he’s playing for a contender. And who may not truly believe quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is good enough to make the Dolphins into one.

When Hill was traded by the Chiefs in 2022, the two finalists were the Jets and the Dolphins. The Jets surely won’t be interested this time around. So who would consider it now?

The contenders that should at least ponder whether Hill can help get them over the top include the Ravens, Texans, Chargers, and 49ers. (The Bills should think about it, too. However, the Dolphins may not be interested in helping Buffalo get back to a Super Bowl.)

The Bears also would be an intriguing option, especially with former Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy on the coaching staff. But they’re currently loaded at receiver; it wouldn’t work unless they’d send D.J. Moore to Miami as part of the trade.

It’s a long shot, for the Bears or any other team. But all it takes is one team to convince itself that Hill can be the difference maker. The guy who can help a team that is close to the mountaintop finish the climb.

Maybe, in the end, Hill’s recent effort to fix his image isn’t about persuading the Dolphins to keep him. Maybe he’s hoping it will convince a better team to come get him.

It’s never good to land on the radar of the FBI. The NFL Players Association has.

Daniel Kaplan, in an item for AwfulAnnouncing.com, explains that an FBI probe of OneTeam Partners has extended from the MLB Players Association to the NFLPA.

Jeff Passan and Don Van Natta Jr. of ESPN.com first reported on the probe, with primary focus on the MLBPA. (The story currently appears on the ESPN.com MLB page, not its NFL page.) Per the ESPN.com article, law-enforcement agents have inquired about money used to strike deals and to monetize the name, image, and likeness rights of players.

OneTeam is a group licensing venture formed by the MLBPA, the NFLPA, and RedBird Capital Partners in 2019. Other sports unions have since joined the group

OneTeam said in a statement to ESPN.com that the company is “aware of an ongoing investigation of allegations concerning our partners. We want to emphasize that OneTeam is not the subject of the investigation and has not been accused of any wrongdoing in any way. OneTeam is fully committed to cooperating with the investigation.”

The NFLPA issued the following statement to Kaplan: “We are aware of the investigation and fully prepared to cooperate if the NFLPA is contacted.” However, Kaplan reports that contact has been made.

Specifically, Kaplan writes that NFLPA in-house counsel Heather McPhee sent a memo to the NFLPA’s board of player representatives on Friday, in which she said that the FBI had contacted her and individual players.

The investigation possibly traces to equity options. An MLBPA whistleblower group had accused executive director Tony Clark of awarding equity options to himself. Separately, the NFLPA conducted an investigation regarding equity options issued to executive director Lloyd Howell.

However it plays out, OneTeam has been one very significant source of revenue for the NFLPA. As noted by ESPN.com, OneTeam has paid the NFLPA $422.8 million over the past five years.

Bitcoin investor Ryan Nichols, who traveled to the Bitcoin 2025 conference from Austin, Texas, said he’s a Trump fan but wouldn’t touch Trump’s digital currency.

“I love Trump. I really want to see what he does to improve this country. But at the same time, I don’t think his coin is going to be much better than the Hawk Tuah coin,” he said, referring to a meme coin that crashed in December and is now the subject of lawsuits.

“I think it will continue to be a pretty good investment for a few more months at most, and then probably drop,” he said.

The Trump Organization and the website administrators of gettrumpmemes.com, where the meme token is for sale, did not respond to requests for comment Friday.

The White House declined to comment, saying in an email, “The $TRUMP meme coin has nothing to do with the White House!”

The price of the $TRUMP coin fluctuates. It sold for less than $1 a coin on Jan. 17, the night Trump announced it with a post on X. Within two days, it soared past $70, according to data from research site CoinGecko. Its value plunged after Trump’s inauguration and has since bounced in a range from about $8 to $16 a coin. On Friday, it was trading at around $11, with a total market capitalization of $2.2 billion, according to CoinGecko.

First lady Melania Trump launched a meme coin of her own, called $MELANIA, also in January. Its price has cratered from more than $13 a coin to $0.32 as of Friday, according to CoinGecko.

Tensions remained high Saturday as Hamas considered a U.S.-brokered ceasefire proposal that could bring an end to the fighting in Gaza, which ramped up after Israel launched a major military operation in the enclave earlier this month.

President Donald Trump told reporters at the Oval Office Friday that the deal which would pause hostilities for 60 days, allow the phased release of hostages, and pave the way for more humanitarian aid to flow into the devastated enclave, was “very close.”

The White House confirmed Thursday that Israel had accepted the proposals, although Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office did not. respond to a request for comment.

Hamas have also responded coolly. Jihad Taha, a spokesperson for the militant group, told Al Jazeera late Friday that the proposals lacked “any immediate commitment to stop the war,” a key Hamas demand. But he said Hamas leaders were “seriously” discussing the proposals.

NBC News looks at what’s at stake:

What does the deal include?

Basem Naim, a senior Hamas official, shared a framework of the agreement with NBC News, which calls for an immediate 60-day halt in fighting, during which Hamas would release 33 Israeli captives in exchange for “a number of Palestinian prisoners.” In return, Israel would “halt all military operations” in Gaza as soon as the truce takes effect, and civilians would be allowed to return to their homes across the enclave.

Under the terms of the framework Israeli forces would withdraw in two phases — first from densely populated areas, then from urban centers — with full withdrawal to be completed by the end of the ceasefire period.

During the truce it says, “negotiations will continue to reach an agreement on the release of Israeli soldiers in exchange for a number of Palestinian prisoners.”

The agreement would also allow for the entry of 600 trucks per day carrying humanitarian aid, including fuel, cooking gas, and medical supplies.

Among the other proposals are that all border crossings between Gaza and Israel, and Gaza and Egypt, will also be reopened under international supervision, and patients and students will be allowed to travel abroad.

Will it lead to an end to the war?

While Hamas is yet to reject the agreement outright, differences that have derailed previous ceasefire efforts appear to remain.

The latest proposals lay the groundwork for a temporary pause in the fighting, but offer no guarantee of a permanent end to the war.

Hamas has signaled openness to talks but insists any lasting deal must include a complete cessation of hostilities and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Israel meanwhile, has demanded that Hamas disarm, dismantle its military and governing infrastructure, and return all 58 remaining hostages before agreeing to end the war. Hamas has rejected those terms.

Israel launched its offensive in Gaza following the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks, in which some 1,200 people were killed and around 250 taken hostage, marking a major escalation in a decadeslong conflict.

Since then, more than 54,000 people, including thousands of children, have been killed in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in the enclave, which has been run by Hamas since 2007.

The ‘hungriest place on earth’

More than 4,000 people have been killed in the Strip since Israel shattered its ceasefire with Hamas in early March and imposed a blockade preventing food, fuel and medical supplies from entering Gaza. The country’s military launched a major new operation dubbed “Gideon’s Chariot,” which began earlier this month.

The latest proposals to end the fighting come as the U.N Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs called Gaza “the hungriest place on earth,” as Israeli continues to let only a trickle of aid into the enclave following an 11-week-long blockade that barred the entry of food and medicine into the enclave.

“The aid operation that we have ready to roll is being put in an operational straitjacket,” OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke told reports in Geneva on Friday. Accusing Israel of “drip-feeding” food into the area, and said aid trucks were being surrounded “by desperate people who want to feed their families.”

“I don’t blame them for aid that essentially is already theirs, but it’s not distributed in the way we wanted,” he added.

Is aid getting into Gaza?

The U.S. and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began operations this week days after Israel lifted its blockade, despite criticism from humanitarian groups who warned that they undermined a long-running humanitarian framework in Gaza and risked compromising the independence of aid operations.

They also expressed significant concern over a plan laid out by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to see aid distributed at sites in southern Gaza, effectively forcibly displacing Palestinians there.

In an update Saturday GHF said it had distributed 30 truckloads of food “providing approximately 1,663,200 meals.” It added that Saturday’s “meal distribution was the largest to date and five times more than yesterday.”