Davis remains hemmed in in Oakland, where there's little to no traction for a new stadium — and zero appetite for any help in the form of public money. He's second in line behind the Chargers in Los Angeles, and why be a tenant to Stan Kroenke in Inglewood if he can have the gridiron stage to himself amid the glitter of Las Vegas?

"Las Vegas is very interesting to me. It really is," Davis told the Post-Dispatch in March at the NFL owners meetings. "That could be a Raider brand."

Davis said Raiders fans in the Oakland area don't like the idea of the team moving back to LA, its home for 13 seasons from 1982 through 1994. Obviously, Raiders fans in LA don't want the team to stay in northern California.

Davis has heard the debate from fans.

"But when Las Vegas was mentioned, they both said, 'Hey, that'd be cool,' " Davis said. "It's an hour flight from Oakland; it's a three- or four-hour ride from LA."

So it's pretty clear that Davis is genuinely smitten with the idea of moving the Silver & Black to Nevada. This doesn't look like a leverage ploy to get Oakland moving on a stadium.

He never got any kind of warm feelings for St. Louis, which would've been more than willing to offer him the deal Kroenke trashed on his way out the door.