The Raiders, Chargers and Rams "find themselves is a high-stakes game of musical chairs" as there is growing indication the NFL wants two teams to eventually move to L.A., and Raiders Owner Mark Davis "isn’t shy about admitting the Raiders could be one of them," according to Vincent Bonsignore of the L.A. DAILY NEWS. Davis said L.A. is a "great option" for an NFL club, and "absolutely" an option for the Raiders. Chargers Chair & President Dean Spanos said, "We’re looking into all our possibilities, all our options." He added of potentially relocating to L.A., “I’m just keeping all my options open." But Bonsignore notes simple math "suggests three teams can’t squeeze into the NFL’s two-team L.A. model." While no one "wants to be the bad guy who moved his team to another city, you also don’t want to be the guy holding the bag without a new stadium" and without L.A. to "use as leverage to prod city leaders to get on the ball." Meanwhile, Davis “offered equal measures of hope and frustration about striking a deal in the Bay Area to build a new stadium for the Raiders.” He said, “We’re trying to get something done in Oakland, and that’s really where we’re at right now” (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 11/17). USA TODAY's Brent Schrotenboer cites a source as saying each team is "driven by concerns that it could be stuck in its current market in an undesirable situation while the other two party up in their new shared palace" in L.A. The "first domino in the L.A. equation very well might be the Chargers, a team that has benefited" from the absence of a team in L.A. by "attracting orphaned NFL fans" from L.A. and Orange counties. To "avoid getting boxed out of L.A.," Spanos likely "would resist any outside invaders by rounding up votes against them" (USA TODAY, 11/17).
STANDING PAT: In Jacksonville, Ryan O'Halloran noted the Jaguars are not in the L.A. conversation, a "stark departure" from when former Owner Wayne Weaver agreed to sell the team to Shahid Khan in November '11 for $760M. Khan said of the lack of Jaguars-to-L.A. chatter, “Actions speak louder than words and they’re finally seeing the actions match the talk.” O'Halloran noted Khan has "stated commitment to Jacksonville" with an EverBank Field lease that runs until '30, and $63M in stadium enhancements that "debuted in late July (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 11/16).
