Dean Spanos, in mirrored sunglasses, faded denim pants and a blue jacket, would have preferred to leave the Four Seasons Resort unnoticed.

The Chargers chairman stood near a pillar outside the lobby of this luxury hotel’s main building on Wednesday, waiting for a car to whisk him away from the NFL owners meetings.

He wasn’t necessarily sneaking out of town, but he clearly was uninterested in talking.

“I’m not going to make any decisions until after the first of the year,” he said when approached. “That’s really all I have to say.”


Then he walked away and disappeared around a corner.

Several of his fellow owners confirmed he has said nothing to them that indicates his intentions regarding a possible move to Los Angeles.

And maybe that’s a good thing.

Nevertheless, in a formality, the owners ratified the final version of the lease the Chargers and Rams agreed to in principle in January. The agreement, in which the Chargers would be a revenue-sharing tenant in the stadium that is scheduled to open in 2019, will only come into play if the Chargers do decide to move. Spanos has until Jan. 15 to declare his intentions.


Like last year, San Diego is playing for overtime.

Problem is, the NFL contends that , essentially, San Diego hasn’t been playing.

“We’re just waiting to see what happens,” Houston Texans owner Bob McNair said. “We are leaving the door open for something, hoping they’ll come up with something. But it remains to be seen. … They need to come up with something firm.”

Other owners asserted similar thoughts, but McNair’s statement pretty much summed up the most hopeful takeaway from this gathering which was held a little more than a month before Spanos must decide whether to move or give San Diego another try.


The level of optimism regarding the Chargers remaining in San Diego depended on which owner was queried.

“At this point there is no reason for optimism in either market,” Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay said. “I don’t see anything productive going on in San Diego or Oakland.”

Others, like Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, stressed the “process” is ongoing.

However, even as Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is among the owners trying to produce a solution in San Diego, there were several indications coming out of Wednesday’s gathering that the clock on this game is winding perilously close to the buzzer.


That is similar from the sentiments widely expressed around this time last year. .

The difference now is that the Chargers have in hand an option to join the Rams in Inglewood.

“Certainly, we’re at a different point in time than a year ago,” Steelers chairman Art Rooney II said. “… (But) it’s not over.”

Several NFL owners and Commissioner Roger Goodell repeated the league’s stance that the league prefers to not relocate teams, while also without fail indicating they supported teams moving when a team and local government can’t come together.


“You definitely have some reluctance,” Irsay said of abandoning traditional markets. “It’s not something anyone likes to see happen, but there has to be some sort of public-private partnership that is forged.”

As of now, the Chargers and San Diego officials have spoken only in vague terms about what is possible. More aptly, they have talked about what is not possible.

The theme here was that the city has to make its intentions clear and define what it can do. No one expects a deal to be consummated in the remaining time. But owners and other league sources said more time is only possible if the Chargers and NFL believe an “actionable” proposal is in the works.

“At this point, it has to start with something between the Chargers and the city,” Rooney said. “If the league can step in, in any way to help, I’m sure we will.”


Goodell spoke with San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer on Tuesday and pledged the league’s continued willingness to facilitate a deal – with the same caveat.

“We’d like to help, but ultimately it’s for the community to decide,” Goodell said. “… We will continue to work with the local officials, but ultimately they have to determine what it is they want to do with the community and what can work for the community and the team.”

Later, Faulconer spokesman Matt Awbrey said the mayor communicated to Goodell that “We can’t put something meaningful together because the Chargers won’t engage with us.”

Asked whether the league can compel the Chargers to work with the city in light of the widespread belief that Measure C was doomed from the start, Goodell said: “The Chargers have worked. … This is not a new issue this has been going on.”


It is clear that, at least publicly, NFL powers continue to sympathize with Spanos over his failed stadium quest.

“Dean has been committed for more than 15 years to staying in San Diego,” Blank said. “Whether that is possible or not, I don’t know.”

Owners heard from Spanos and Chargers COO Jeanne Bonk in the morning. According to a source inside the room, Spanos expressed “disappointment” in recent events in San Diego, including the failure of the Chargers’ stadium-convention center initiative, as well as a letter sent to him this week by four city councilman requesting dialogue.

Spanos was asked whether he was, indeed, “infuriated” by the letter, as ProFootballTalk, citing a source, reported on Tuesday night. He grimaced and said, “I’m not going to say anything.”


The possible relocation of the Raiders to Las Vegas was another dominant topic Wednesday.

At this meeting a year ago, it was the Chargers and Raiders working to sell owners on their Carson stadium project while Rams owner Stan Kroenke pushed the Inglewood stadium development that ultimately prevailed. Also here last December owners heard a proposal from Kroenke that another team join him as a partner, though Wednesday’s expected Chargers-Rams lease agreement has little bearing on the dynamics of Spanos’ decision.

Jones was not available for comment Wednesday, but it is known he is working to keep the Chargers in San Diego. The nature of those efforts could not be ascertained, though sources in the past week identified possibilities such as additional loan funding, the NFL investing in development of a stadium complex or the promise of multiple Super Bowls. As for a concerted movement by Jones, other owners or the league to step in and help keep the Chargers in San Diego, there remained few specifics.

“There are lots of general conversations about lots of things,” NFL executive vice president Eric Grubman said while maintaining no knowledge of the nature of discussions.


That there remains such conversations is a good thing.

And it’s all San Diego has.

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