Raiders, Packers in discussions to play preseason game in Canada

According to Packers beat writer Michael Cohen, the Raiders and Packers are in talks to play each other north of the border in the 2019 preseason.

The NFL hasn’t played a game in Canada since 2013, when the Falcons defeated the Bills in the Rogers Centre, which at the time was known as the Skydome, home of the Toronto Blue Jays. The NFL played in Canada regularly before that, and in its early days had exhibitions against CFL teams. But since Mexico City has taken over as one of the NFL’s primary locations of neutral-site regular season games, Canada hasn’t seen any NFL action, preseason or no.

The last time an NFL game was played in Western Canada was in 1996, when the 49ers beat the Seahawks in Vancouver. Most NFL games in Canada have been played in either Toronto or Montreal, but it appears this one will take place in one of the western provinces, either Manitoba or Saskatchewan.

Of course, talks haven’t progressed to the point yet where the date or a final location is known, but a game at the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ or the Saskatchewan Rough Riders’ stadiums would be a lot of fun, and possibly a destination game for Raider fans who live in the Great White North or even the northern United States. It will be one of our first glimpses of the new-look Raiders after Mike Mayock and Jon Gruden have spent the offseason revamping the roster.