AP

Two months ago, when reports first suggested that the NFL could be returning to Los Angeles far sooner than expected or believed, it also was noted that additional potential locations could emerge, beyond AEG’s downtown proposal, the shovel-ready (but hopelessly stalled) City of Industry locale, and the land recently purchased by Rams owner Stan Kroenke near Hollywood Park.

According to the San Fernando Valley Business Journal, NFL executives in recent weeks have been scouting a 172-acre site in Carson, California. It’s currently the location of the Victoria Regional Park and golf course, east of 405/110 freeways.

“Yes, I have been approached by two separate groups with NFL contacts,” Newport Beach developer Jeffrey Klein said. “And yes, there’s no question it’s an attractive place for a stadium.”

The property raises potential cleanup issues, since it was once the site of a municipal landfill. Of course, if the Carson possibility is merely being used to create some last-minute leverage as the NFL closes in on a deal with one of the other locations, those details won’t matter.

Either way, the NFL seems to be moving quickly toward a return to Los Angeles, and the potential candidates are widely believed to be the Rams, Raiders, and Chargers. At this week’s meeting of NFL owners, the window for making an application for relocation could be narrowed from January 1 through February 15 to February 2 to February 15, which would keep the potential relocation of a franchise from becoming an issue during the postseason.