Dean Spanos Comments on Chargers' LA Relocation Proposal

The San Diego Chargers, St. Louis Rams and Oakland Raiders each filed for relocation in the Los Angeles area after the 2015 regular season ended, and discussion on the topic began to heat up prior to the start of league meetings Tuesday in Houston.   

The Raiders and Chargers submitted a joint proposal for a stadium in Carson, California, but that's just the beginning. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones thinks a better overall solution would be to pair the Chargers and Rams together in an Inglewood, California, stadium, per Mike Florio of NBC Sports' Pro Football Talk:

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Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has been pushing the Inglewood angle, which would give Rams owner Stan Kroenke what he covets (his own stadium in the L.A. area) and which would give Chargers owner Dean Spanos what he covets (a one-way ticket out of San Diego). Jones, per multiple sources, has submitted a resolution in advance of next week’s special ownership meeting in Houston aimed at forcing that specific outcome.

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Spanos said while he prefers the partnership with Oakland, he'll do what's best for the league, per Marty Caswell of San Diego's Mighty 1090 (via Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk).   

“We’ve been working on it for over a year and worked hard on it,” Spanos said. “Whatever the decision of the owners is, we’ll abide by it.”  

However, decision-makers of the two teams were chummy Monday night, per Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com:

Sam Farmer and Nathan Fenno of the Los Angeles Times reported Monday "a consensus is building" to keep the Raiders from returning to L.A., while the Rams and Chargers partnering in Inglewood is a more popular idea.

The article also stated one reason Spanos has not jumped on board 100 percent is because he does not want to "be seen as turning his back on his partner," Raiders owner Mark Davis.

The decision will come down to a vote from the owners, and there is plenty of chatter about what will happen, per Farmer and Fenno:

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Three-quarters of owners must approve any franchise relocation. It is believed both projects have the nine votes to block the other, although that could be shifting in favor of the Rams after last week's meetings of the finance, stadium and L.A. committees at league headquarters in New York.

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If the Raiders are left out—which could easily happen because three teams are not sharing a stadium—Farmer and Fenno said it won't be the end in terms of a possible relocation for Oakland.

"Such a maneuver could mean that the Raiders return to Oakland in the short term, but can explore relocating to other cities, among them San Diego, St. Louis or joining the San Francisco 49ers in their new stadium in Santa Clara."

This will not be an easy decision, and according to Farmer and Fenno, there was talk of taking a silent vote because of the sensitivity of the issue.

While Spanos may not get exactly what he wants, he most likely will be happy with whatever decision the owners make considering his main goal, as Florio pointed out, is to leave San Diego as quickly as he can.