Saints select Texas offensive tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. with their first-round pick at 9th overall

METAIRIE, La. (AP) — The New Orleans Saints selected Texas offensive tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. with the No. 9 overall pick in the NFL draft Thursday night.

Banks joined New Orleans one day after general manager Mickey Loomis said the Saints would not be picking up a fifth-year option on right tackle Trevor Penning, a 2022 late first-rounder who now enters his final season under contract.

The 6-foot-5, 315-pound Banks, who won the 2024 Outland Trophy as the top lineman in college football, will be expected to compete right away for a starting role — if not at tackle then possibly at guard.

“I’ll play whatever, man," Banks said, noting that he would expect to be comfortable on either side of the line despite playing left tackle for the Longhorns.

"If I’m (one of) the best five (linemen) on the field and I get an opportunity to go out there and start and to earn that right, then I’m going to play wherever they put me.”

This is the second year in a row the Saints have used their first-round choice on an offensive tackle after taking Taliese Fuaga, who started at left tackle as a rookie last season. The Saints also have used their top draft pick on an offensive lineman four times since 2019, when they selected center Erik McCoy early in the second round.

“This is a trenches game. The game is won up front in a lot of ways,” Saints first-year coach Kellen Moore said after the first round ended late Thursday night. “We’re building a strength in that offensive line.”

New Orleans selected interior lineman Cesar Ruiz in the first round in 2020. Penning was New Orleans' second of two first-round picks in 2022.

But Banks is the first player to be chosen by the Saints under Moore, who is coming off a Super Bowl championship with Philadelphia as the Eagles' offensive coordinator.

Banks met Moore at the NFL combine in February and found him to be “a great guy.”

“He kind of lets his players be who they are,” Banks said. “He wants to understand you, wants to understand where you come from and things like that. So, definitely a good meeting with him at the combine.”

Banks described himself as a smart, physical, and fast-thinking player with quick feet who can play “in any scheme or any type of offense.”

He also demonstrated toughness and a commitment to his team when he played through an ankle injury in last season's College Football Playoff, helping the Longhorns advance to the semifinals.

“I was able to battle through the pain and kind of just tough it out for my team, just because I knew how much I meant as a cornerstone lineman for them," Banks said.

The Saints also entered the draft with one second-round selection (40th overall), two in the third round (71st and 93rd), two in the fourth (112th and 131st), one in the sixth and two in the seventh.

The second round begins Friday night, when the Saints will hope to draft some instant contributors as they try to bounce back from a 5-12 record, their worst since going 3-13 in 2005.

“We feel like we're going to be able to help this team in a lot of ways with the guys that are still on that (draft) board,” Moore said.

New Orleans also is trying to end a four-year playoff drought that began after the retirement of record-setting quarterback Drew Brees.

“I went to UT when they were trying to turn that program around," Banks noted. "The biggest thing for me is buying into the coach's culture.

“I just do what I can and my part for the team — not try to worry about what somebody else is doing, but worry about what I can do to help the team win," Banks added.

Banks has a baby boy named Khalil who wound up getting some air time when the Saints called Banks at his draft party in Houston to inform him that he was their pick. As the camera panned to Khalil, seated nearby on his mother's lap, he spit up.

“The first thing I did was check (social media), and that’s all I saw,” Banks said with a laugh. “It was so hilarious.”

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New Orleans Saints fans cheer during the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Matt Ludtke)

FILE - Texas offensive lineman Kelvin Banks Jr. (78) sets up to block against Arkansas during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Fayetteville, Ark. (AP Photo/Michael Woods, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is meeting with oil executives at the White House on Friday in hopes of securing $100 billion in investments to revive Venezuela’s ability to fully tap into its expansive reserves of petroleum — a plan that rides on their comfort in making commitments in a country plagued by instability, inflation and uncertainty.

Since the U.S. military raid to capture former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, Trump has quickly pivoted to portraying the move as a newfound economic opportunity for the U.S., seizing tankers carrying Venezuelan oil, saying the U.S. is taking over the sales of 30 million to 50 million barrels of previously sanctioned Venezuelan oil and will be controlling sales worldwide indefinitely.

On Friday, U.S. forces seized their fifth tanker over the past month that has been linked to Venezuelan oil. The action reflected the determination of the U.S. to fully control the exporting, refining and production of Venezuelan petroleum, a sign of the Trump administration's plans for ongoing involvement in the sector as it seeks commitments from private companies.

It's all part of a broader push by Trump to keep gasoline prices low. At a time when many Americans are concerned about affordability, the incursion in Venezuela melds Trump’s assertive use of presidential powers with an optical spectacle meant to convince Americans that he can bring down energy prices.

The meeting, set for 2:30 p.m. EST, will be open to the news media, according to an update to the president's daily schedule. “At least 100 Billion Dollars will be invested by BIG OIL, all of whom I will be meeting with today at The White House,” Trump said Friday in a pre-dawn social media post.

Trump is set to meet with executives from 17 oil companies, according to the White House. Among the companies attending are Chevron, which still operates in Venezuela, and ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, which both had oil projects in the country that were lost as part of a 2007 nationalization of private businesses under Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez.

The president is meeting with a wide swath of domestic and international companies with interests ranging from construction to the commodity markets. Other companies slated to be at the meeting include Halliburton, Valero, Marathon, Shell, Singapore-based Trafigura, Italy-based Eni and Spain-based Repsol.

Large U.S. oil companies have so far largely refrained from affirming investments in Venezuela as contracts and guarantees need to be in place. Trump has suggested on social media that America would help to backstop any investments.

Venezuela’s oil production has slumped below one million barrels a day. Part of Trump's challenge to turn that around will be to convince oil companies that his administration has a stable relationship with Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodríguez, as well as protections for companies entering the market.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum are slated to attend the oil executives meeting, according to the White House.

Meanwhile, the United States and Venezuelan governments said Friday they were exploring the possibility of r estoring diplomatic relations between the two countries, and that a delegation from the Trump administration arrived to the South American nation on Friday.

The small team of U.S. diplomats and diplomatic security officials traveled to Venezuela to make a preliminary assessment about the potential re-opening of the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, the State Department said in a statement.

Trump also announced on Friday he’d meet with President Gustavo Petro in early February, but called on the Colombian leader to make quick progress on stemming flow of cocaine into the U.S.

Trump, following the ouster of Maduro, had made vague threats to take similar action against Petro. Trump abruptly changed his tone Wednesday about his Colombian counterpart after a friendly phone call in which he invited Petro to visit the White House.

President Donald Trump waves as he walks off stage after speaking to House Republican lawmakers during their annual policy retreat, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)