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CHARLOTTE https://www.carolinapanthersfanshop.com/Mike-Adams-Jersey , N.C. (AP)The Carolina Panthers are being sold for an NFL-record $2.2 billion.Hedge fund manager David Tepper has agreed to buy the Panthers from team founder Jerry Richardson, two people familiar with the situation said Tuesday. The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team has not yet announced the sale.The purchase is subject to a vote at the NFL owners meeting next week in Atlanta.Richardson announced in December he was selling the team amid an NFL investigation into sexual and racial misconduct in the workplace. That decision came after a report by Sports Illustrated detailing Richardson’s alleged misconduct.The league’s investigation into the allegations is still ongoing.The price tag is the most ever paid for an NFL franchise, eclipsing the $1.4 billion the Pegula family paid to purchase the Buffalo Bills in 2014.Ben Navarro, the founder and CEO of Sherman Financial Group, was considered Tepper’s biggest competitor in the bid to purchase the Panthers. He conceded Tuesday that he’d lost the bid.”My family and I are grateful to have had the opportunity to be included as a potential buyer of one of the premier assets in all of the Carolinas – the Panthers football team,” Navarro said in an email to The Associated Press. ”It would have been a privilege to become the stewards of this iconic franchise to ensure its home remains in the Carolinas where it belongs, to establish a new era of leadership and excellence on and off the field, and to leverage the team’s NFL platform to further our quest to help all children gain access to a great education.”Tepper’s plans on whether the team will remain in Charlotte for the long-term future remain unclear.The Panthers are tied to their downtown stadium through the 2018 season because of an agreement with the city. After that a new owner is free to extend the lease to the stadium, build a new stadium or possibly move the team.Moving the Panthers out of Charlotte would seem to a longshot.NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said he would prefer to keep the team in Charlotte where it has been successful. The Panthers have been one of the NFL’s best supported teams with only two non-sellout games since the team began playing its home games in Charlotte in 1996.Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Tepper, 60, is a part owner of the Steelers and founder and president of Appaloosa Management, a global hedge fund based in Miami.Because he holds a 5 percent stake in the Steelers https://www.carolinapanthersfanshop.com/Matt-Kalil-Jersey , Tepper’s finances already have been vetted by the league, meaning it wouldn’t take much for NFL owners to approve the sale. However, Tepper would have to sell his minority ownership stake of the Steelers, per league rules.Forbes listed Tepper’s net worth at $11.4 billion in February 2017.Tepper is known for his philanthropy.He donated $55 million to Carnegie Mellon University’s business school in 2013. Tepper graduated from the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon, where the Tepper School of Business is named after him.Richardson was the first and only majority of the Panthers. He became only the first former player since George Halas to become an NFL owner when he was awarded an expansion franchise in 1993. Richardson promised fans at the time the Panthers would win a Super Bowl ”within 10 years.” Carolina has reached the Super Bowl twice, including in 2015, but has never won.— NEW ORLEANS — The commonly accepted myth about the difficulty of beating a team three times in one season will be put to its latest test when the NFC South champion New Orleans Saints (11-5) host their division rivals, the Carolina Panthers (11-5), in a wild-card playoff game Sunday at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.The Saints turned around an 0-2 season by beating the Panthers 34-13 in Charlotte in Week 3, igniting an eight-game winning streak. They then beat them in the Superdome 31-21 on Dec. 3.Since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970, teams that swept the regular-season series also won the playoff game 13 of 20 times, a 65 percent edge.The Saints are not banking their hopes on statistical probabilities but on a balanced offense that does not rely on 45 throws a game by Drew Brees and on a revitalized defense that so far has withstood a withering number of injuries to starters.Brees, who will turn 39 on Jan. 15 https://www.carolinapanthersfanshop.com/Captain-Munnerlyn-Jersey , said he does feel an internal clock ticking on his career but treats every game with respect.“I prepare like every game could be my last or (like) it’s a playoff game or I’ve got something to prove and I’ve got an edge,” Brees said. “It’s not like, ‘Oh, the playoffs are here, it’s time to ramp it up or things are a little more important.’ It’s always important for me.”There were some common threads in the Saints’ two regular-season victories over Carolina. The Panthers are ranked No. 7 in the NFL on defense, allowing 317.2 yards per game, and just 88.1 yards rushing, third best in the league. But Carolina yielded their most yards rushing this season to the Saints — 149 yards in Week 3 and 148 in Week 13.That’s a credit to rookie sensation Alvin Kamara and veteran running back Mark Ingram as well as to the Saints’ offensive line. Brees is the biggest beneficiary of a powerful running attack that is averaging 4.7 yards per carry, best in the NFL, and 129.4 yards per game, fifth in the league.Brees threw 137 fewer passes this year (536) but connected on 386 for an NFL-record 72.0 completion percentage. His 4,334 passing yards are nearly 800 yards fewer than his 2016 totals but just about equal to his 4,388 passing yards in 2009 https://www.carolinapanthersfanshop.com/David-Mayo-Jersey , the Saints’ Super Bowl season.“Sure is nice,” Brees said, smiling. “Does it change the way I prepare? No. Does it change my mindset going into a game? No. It’s just that when you add up the number of throws … if you take away five, seven, 10 attempts a game and those are going to the run game, that means you’re doing something right in the run game, and it probably means you’re playing good defense. It doesn’t force me to take as many chances.”The Saints also have done an excellent job putting a vise around Carolina quarterback Cam Newton, who happens to be the Panthers’ leading rusher. Newton has passed for just 350 yards in the two losses. He threw three interceptions in the first meeting, including one in the end zone. He is a dangerous runner, but his only gash run against the Saints this year was a 32-yard scramble in garbage time.The Panthers could have won the NFC South outright last week but were hamstrung by an inept offensive performance in a 22-10 loss to the Falcons. Newton completed just 14 of 34 passes for 180 yards and was picked off three times.Newton said the Panthers have erased that game from their memory banks and are poised to make a playoff statement.“This is when real football starts,” said Newton, who led the Panthers to the Super Bowl in 2015 with a 15-1 regular-season record. “(We’re) explaining it to the young guys and the guys who haven’t witnessed playoff football. This is where you are made or broke. I look forward to these types of moments because it brings out the best in individuals because there is so much pressure. We all know what they say about pressure — it does one of two things — and we’re hoping to shine like diamonds.”Each team will have a significant player available who did not play in either of the first two games: Carolina tight end Greg Olsen, who has been battling a foot injury all season https://www.carolinapanthersfanshop.com/Devin-Funchess-Jersey , and Saints rookie cornerback Marshon Lattimore.Saints coach Sean Payton said if Olsen is healthy, it could pose a threat to his defense because Olsen is “one of the better tight ends in the game. Not having him is significant and having him is huge.”Carolina coach Ron Rivera knows that Lattimore, who made the Pro Bowl, can help the Saints shut down any deep threat the Panthers have. Lattimore normally shadows the opponent’s best receiver, so he may draw Devin Funchess, who has 63 catches for 840 yards.“When I watch (Lattimore), he’s a terrific football player,” Rivera said.The Panthers hope to have guard Trai Turner back after missing three games with concussion symptoms. Saints starting left tackle Terron Armstead (thigh) and wide receiver Michael Thomas (hamstring) were limited in practice on Wednesday but should be able to go.