Oakland Raiders: Biggest Storylines From First Week Of OTA’s

Dec 21, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders cornerback T.J. Carrie on the sidelines against the Buffalo Bills at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Location, Location, Location…

In probably one of the biggest stories to come out of the recently concluded NFL owner’s meeting in San Francisco that had nothing to do with whether balls were properly inflated or not, was the possibility of a deal not getting done in the East Bay, and the Raiders possibly relocating to the LA market.

With little to no movement coming from the city of Oakland and Alameda County in recent days, weeks, and months, the prospects of these entities somehow coming up with a cure all for the stadium situation is looking bleaker and bleaker by the moment.

San Diego based businessman Floyd Kephart is the point man on the proposed Coliseum City project, and he has until June 21st to present a “market feasibility study.” He doesn’t have to produce a solid financing plan, or anything concrete related to the stadium project. All he has to produce is a market feasibility study.

One would think that knowing this day was coming for several years now, the city of Oakland and Alameda County would have more than a simple feasibility study to show from their supposed dogged efforts to keep the Raiders in town.

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If you thought that though, think again.

The situation in Oakland has become so dire, and perhaps so untenable, that even Roger Goodell has gone on record to talk about – well – just how dire and untenable the situation is.

Goodell – who was probably glad to talk about something other than Tom Brady – said this:

“This is not a new issue. We do need … a proposal from the people here about how they are going to keep the Raiders in Oakland. It’s something that we have not seen, to my knowledge, any specific proposal.”

With land in Carson secured for the joint Raiders/Chargers stadium, time is starting to run very, very short for the politicians in Oakland and Alameda County to get on the ball and get something done. Mark Davis has already committed at least $500 million dollars to the project, but there is a $400 million dollar funding gap.

If Oakland and Alameda County truly want the Raiders to stay, they need pony up and put some of their own skin into the game. They shouldn’t get to reap all of the rewards of having a pro football team in town, but assume none of the risk.

Unless of course, they’ve already given up and come to terms with the fact that the Raiders are going to leave, and are simply playing out the string.

Or perhaps they were never really that interested in keeping the Raiders to begin with…

Next: All About Location Pt. II