Owners to vote on Raiders’ Vegas move
Other items on the agenda include player safety issues, changes to instant replay
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — During what could become a controversial week, NFL owners expect to vote on the Oakland Raiders’ move to Las Vegas and will consider proposals designed to centralize instant replay, speed up the game and provide more safety for players.
In the vote that will generate the most attention at the annual league meetings, Raiders owner Mark Davis is hoping his partners will approve his plan to leave Oakland for Las Vegas, where he has secured $750 million in public money and backing from Bank of America to build a stadium that could end up costing more than $2 billion.
All indications are that the owners will approve the Raiders’ move. They are supposed to vote Monday but could table the vote until their spring meetings in May.
“We would like for the Raiders to stay in Oakland because it’s a larger market with a great tradition, but there’s no current stadium plan or even one on the horizon that makes sense,” one owner said last week. “(Davis) and the league have done everything they can to keep the franchise there, but it’s just not possible.
“Las Vegas is the only viable alternative. (Davis) wants to go there, and I think we’ll approve it, but some (details) still need to be worked out.”
Like Davis’ relocation fee that’s expected to be a lot less than the $650 million the Rams and Chargers were charged. There are reports that Davis might pay only $350 million because of the size of the Las Vegas market and the fact that it won’t elevate the value of NFL franchises.
Davis needs 24 of 32 votes to move his team to Las Vegas. The Raiders would play the next two seasons in Oakland before moving to Las Vegas and playing a season in Nevada, probably at UNLV’s stadium that would have to undergo some upgrades to meet NFL standards. Centralized system
Meanwhile, the owners will vote on eight rules changes recommended by the competition committee and seven proposed by teams.
Commissioner Roger Goodell and the competition committee that met last week would like to speed up the game while, at the same time, improving the product on the field.
The proposal that should interest fans the most involves a centralized replay system in which Dean Blandino, the league’s vice president of officiating, and his staff would make the call on replays from the league office in New York.
Blandino and his staff have been assisting referees on replay in recent year by telling them what they see on their screens, but the final call was left to the referee.
The new proposal calls for Blandino to communicate with the referee, who would use a tablet, before Blandino upheld the call on the field or changed it. And it might be done so fast the decision might be made during a commercial break.
The referee would still explain the call on the field.
“Giving New York, the designated members of the officiating department — myself (and) my supervisory staff — final say over the replay decision, with input from the referee,” Blandino said. “We’re not taking the referee out of the equation. The referee will still be involved but will no longer have the final say.”
There are other interesting proposals the owners will consider.
For instance, the competition committee is recommending that overtime be reduced from 15 to 10 minutes.
Buffalo and Seattle submitted a proposal that would allow coaches to challenge any decision by an official that doesn’t involved turnovers and scoring plays.
In what could be called the Kyle Shanahan Rule, the owners will vote on allowing an assistant coach to be hired as a head coach even if his team continues to play in the playoffs, including the Super Bowl. When Atlanta played New England in Super Bowl LI, everyone knew Shanahan, the Falcons’ offensive coordinator, had agreed to become San Francisco’s new coach but couldn’t announce it. Shorter overtime?
Rich McKay, chairman of the competition committee, said the proposal to reduce overtime to 10 minutes from 15 is about player safety.
“We looked at the number of snaps and felt like it was excessive,” McKay said. “We just felt we should put an end to it. We don’t think it’ll lead to more ties. Could it? It could. Are we concerned about that? No, we’re more concerned about player safety.”
Among the other proposals related to player safety are outlawing players being able to leap over blockers on extra points and field goals, expanding the crown-ofthe-helmet penalty to include the hairline part of the helmet, giving receivers running routes protection as defense players and making crack-back blocks illegal for players who go in motion.
The owners are expected to approve for another season that the line of scrimmage for extra points is the 25-yard line.
They also are expected to keep kickoffs the way they were last season.
“The touchback at the 25, which was (for) one year only, the (competition) committee was pleased with the results,” Blandino said, noting that the number of touchbacks were up.”