League will increase salary cap to $190 million in 2019
Oakland sues Raiders, NFL
WASHINGTON, Dec 12, (Agencies): The NFL announced Tuesday that the salary cap will rise to about $190 million in 2019, a jump from $177.2 million this season.
The league informed teams that the projected range is from $187 million to $191.1 million.
That marks a 40-percent increase since the 2014 season ($133.0 million) and the sixth consecutive year the cap has climbed by at least $10 million.
“Total projected player costs, including benefits, will be more than $7.3 billion in 2019,” the league said in a statement.
The exact salary cap figure will be determined before free agency opens on March 13.
The city of Oakland said Tuesday it had filed a lawsuit against the National Football League and the Raiders franchise over its move to Las Vegas.
Oakland City Attorney Barbara Parker said in a statement the team’s relocation to Las Vegas, which will take effect from 2020, was “illegal” and breached antitrust laws.
The lawsuit, which described the NFL as a “cartel”, aims to “recover damages resulting from the Raiders’ illegal move to Las Vegas, including lost revenue, money that Oakland taxpayers invested in the Raiders and other costs.”
Parker said the Raiders and the NFL had “brazenly violated federal antitrust law and the league’s own policies when they boycotted Oakland as a host city.”
The lawsuit immediately raised questions about the Raiders’ future in 2019.
The Minnesota Vikings fired first-year offensive coordinator John DeFilippo, the team announced Tuesday.
The move comes after the Vikings’ 21-7 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Monday night, the team’s third defeat in its past four games. The Vikings finished the game with 276 yards of total offense, managing just 61 in the first half. It was the fourth time in the past five games that the Vikings have finished with less than 300 yards total offense.
Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is banged up, but sore ribs won’t keep him out of action when the Steelers play host to the New England Patriots on Sunday.
Roethlisberger required a painkilling injection to deal with a rib injury sustained in the second quarter last week in Pittsburgh’s loss to the Oakland Raiders. He returned to the game late in the fourth quarter.