[Elvis]

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/ ... 8e79c.html

BenFred: Reported momentum for Rams-Chargers not surprising, but concerning

Perhaps Stan Kroenke and Jerry Jones discussed this during that August brawl/practice their Rams and Cowboys shared in Oxnard, after the two owners chitchatted about their love of money and mediocre football.

They probably knew then that Kroenke would paint St. Louis as a sinkhole in his attempt to reach the point of no return.

And they probably knew their pal, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, would do his damnedest to torpedo any proposal put forth by the St. Louis stadium task force, not by shutting it down from the start, but by moving the finish line again and again and again.

Still, an ace up their silk-lined sleeves would be needed in case the plan to make Kroenke the lone king of Inglewood encountered turbulence. Not the FAA kind, either. The kind created by the competing Carson project pitched by Chargers owner Dean Spanos and Raiders owner Mark Davis.

Jones has showed his hand. He's offering an alternative solution: The Rams and the Chargers together in Inglewood. And it could work.

The suggested merger, murmured about for a while, but not officially presented to Goodell until late last week, is gaining momentum, multiple league officials told the Los Angeles Times.

Perfect timing for Kroenke and his cronies. The league's Los Angeles committee met Monday night in Houston. The owners meetings that will follow Tuesday and Wednesday could end the speculation.

That things appear to be coming up Kroenke shouldn't come as a shock. (Nothing should anymore.)

Kroenke had already offered to share his hopeful home with either team. But Davis and Spanos headed toward Houston having shown no signs of breaking their alliance. Smart. The husbands of black widow spiders feel bad for Kroenke's business partners.

But what if Kroenke sweetens his deal? What if the Raiders get a severance package?

What should really raise eyebrows is what it might take to cut the Raiders out and solder the Rams and Chargers together.

One option is taking care of the Raiders in the short-term, then freeing them for relocation later. Raider Nation meet The Lou, or San Diego.

Another option is giving Oakland, the city that never submitted a formal proposal to keep the Raiders, the kind of help Goodell made St. Louis sound moronic for requesting.

Wouldn't that be something?

According to the Orange County Register, Jones' proposal could mean a sweet deal for Davis. One possible scenario, according to the report, includes the NFL handing over between $100 and $200 million in addition to a $200 million loan for a new 50,000-seat venue in Oakland.

That would be pretty rich, considering Goodell's opposition to the amount of NFL money requested by the St. Louis stadium task force.

The commissioner's initial letter to Gov. Jay Nixon and the task force sternly reminded its readers that the league provides a maximum of $200 million to help teams build new stadiums.

Goodell said the task force's request for $300 million — an amount the task force obviously came up with using the help of at least one league owner — was "fundamentally inconsistent with the NFL's program of stadium financing."

Then, in this weekend's report to owners, Goodell again referred to the extra $100 million as part of the reason the St. Louis plan was deemed inadequate.

Goodell won't cast a vote during this week's meetings, but his power shouldn't be minimized. Clearly, he believes giving extra money to St. Louis is a deal breaker. But what about creating some wiggle room for the Raiders? Would Goodell be so opposed to some of the Rams' and Chargers' relocation fees, which could reach a reported $550 million each, funneling into an Oakland rescue mission?

Seeing how the league has manipulated its own relocation guidelines to this point, anything is possible.

This isn't a shot at Oakland, but the city did pretty much nothing to keep its team. Even less than San Diego did to keep the Chargers. Perhaps that was the smartest approach all along. Goodell turned his nose up at St. Louis just the same.

We should have answers soon. Until then, thank Kroenke. He was the first driver on the track for this race to Los Angeles. Jones has been his smug co-pilot from the start.

Maybe Jones' Rams-Chargers proposal is a sign of desperation, proof that the Chargers and Raiders are close to acquiring the votes they need to claim Carson. Monday's report by The Times suggests otherwise.

If Jones gets his wish, and the NFL makes things right for the Raiders in Oakland, the joy in the Black Hole will feel like another black eye around here.

“We’ve done nothing for 20 years,” Jones recently told the Orange County Register. “So we’ve got an opportunity here. We’ve got great, great potential people that will expand the NFL and expand a great market. I don’t want to miss that train."

The train runs on greed, and there is a chance the NFL swoops in to save Oakland while St. Louis gets flattened in the tracks.