Chargers Owner Dean Spanos Still Weighing Potential Relocation Options

Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Chargers’ owner Dean Spanos has not made a firm decision on potentially relocating the franchise and is still weighing all his options to decide what will work.

Spanos and other team executives have scheduled meetings later this week with San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer and other city business leaders which will stretch out until the January 15 deadline to decide whether they will relocate to Los Angeles.

According to Rapoport, sources believe Spanos and the Chargers are leaning towards moving to Los Angeles to share a stadium with the Rams. In fact, Rapoport’s sources claim that the Rams and Chargers have had a deal in place since last January but Spanos simply needs to decide whether to go through with it.

Rapoport also reports that the idea of providing an extension for the Chargers’ Los Angeles option was not discussed.

Although many believe Spanos would like to stay in San Diego if possible, he has grown tired of the back-and-forth uncertainty between the city and team. Although, proposing a new stadium site within the city could still be an option.

Interesting enough, Rapoport writes that the Chargers wouldn’t need to make a quick decision if the Raiders end up moving to Las Vegas. Rapoport’s sources say the Raiders are “confident” a deal gets done with casino owner Sheldon Adelson and his group of investors.

Additionally, a previous CBS Sports report claimed that Chargers’ ownership remains in close contract with Rams owner Stan Kroenke regarding a possible move to Los Angeles.

It is worth mentioning that Rams executive Kevin Demoff said recently that the Chargers and Rams are discussing a possible deal regarding the Chargers joining the Rams in Los Angeles.

“There are no hurdles to any deal,” Demoff said. “The relationship between the two owners is in a good place and, I believe the Chargers feel welcomed. Nothing stands in their way of moving if that is what they want to do. I would also say we have no insight on what their decision will be. It’s only that we have worked hard to make sure their L.A. option is a good one.”

The Chargers’ stadium initiative failed last month and didn’t come close to the threshold required to pass. They will need to make a decision about whether to join the Rams in Los Angeles in the coming months or try to work out an extension for their current option.

For what it’s worth, Jim Trotter of ESPN mentioned that San Diego is “out of ideas” on how to keep the Chargers.

Chargers’ ownership has said that they would like to figure out a way to keep the team in San Diego but there’s still so much work to be done that the option to join the Rams could prove to be too much to pass up.

We’ll have more regarding potential relocations involving the Chargers as the news is available.