No one seems to know where the Raiders are going (or not going). Los Angeles? Oakland? Texas? Right now, it seems every option is on the table – and NFL Network’s Albert Breer believes the Raiders are the most flexible team in the mover’s market.
In his MMQB column this morning, Peter King hypothesized that if the Raiders and Chargers move to Los Angeles, it would make the most sense for the Raiders to stay in the AFC West with the Chargers joining the NFC West.
This is all speculation, but I could see Oakland staying in the AFC West and San Diego moving to the NFC West to join a more geographically aligned division. It would be easy for the St. Louis Rams to move to the AFC West because it would mean the Rams and Chiefs would be able to form the kind of cross-state rivalry that could be excellent for both teams, and especially the occasionally attendance-strapped Rams. So that would leave Denver, Kansas City, St. Louis and the L.A. Raiders as the new AFC West; Seattle, San Francisco, Arizona and the L.A. Chargers would make up the more geographically smart NFC West. It really wouldn’t be a very difficult solve, assuming the Chargers, who have always been an AFL or AFC team (they played their first season, 1960, in Los Angeles), wouldn’t make too big of a stink about moving to the NFC.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the Raiders are at an impasse in negotiations to remain in Oakland, and progress needs to be made within the next 30 days for discussions to continue. At the same time, the Rams are still the favorite to land first in Los Angeles – meaning the Raiders and Chargers could soon be competing for the second spot. So while Plan A is Oakland, Plan B seems to involve Los Angeles (and the Chargers). It could turn out that the more realistic path to Los Angeles is Plan C – the scenario where the Rams move (or don’t move) first.
Where exactly would the “most flexible” team land in that scenario?
