The Raiders‘ long-term future remains up in the air, but there have been indications in recent weeks that Las Vegas is becoming a more and more viable landing spot for the franchise. There are still plenty of roadblocks to clear, including getting funding for the proposed Vegas stadium and getting at least 24 NFL owners to approve having a franchise in America’s gambling capital. But Las Vegas mayor Carolyn Goodman is confident that those hurdles can be overcome.
“The Raiders will come if Nevada handles this properly,” Goodman said during an appearance on ESPN Radio’s Capital Games podcast today, as ESPN’s Andy Katz writes. “[Raiders owner] Mark Davis has assured us that Las Vegas is not getting played in a Raiders stadium deal. I know we will have a team.”
While we wait to see if Vegas continues to make progress toward becoming a realistic possibility for Davis and his franchise, let’s round up a few Tuesday odds and ends from around the NFL…
- In an Insider-only piece for ESPN.com, draft guru Mel Kiper identifies 30 undrafted free agents to keep an eye on this summer. The Bills, Panthers, Bears, Broncos, Colts, Saints, Jets, 49ers each have two signees on the list, while the Buccaneers have an impressive four of the 30.
- The drastic pay cut Danny Amendola accepted to remain with the Patriots is the latest example of the significant leverage NFL teams have over players in most contract negotiations, writes Ben Volin of the Boston Globe.
- The 49ers announced today in a press release that former NFL linebacker Parys Haralson has joined the team as the director of player engagement. Haralson, who last played for the Saints in 2014, spent seven years in San Francisco as a player from 2006 to 2012, and worked out for the Niners last fall after being cut by New Orleans.
Raiders (or any team for that matter) needs to get owner approval to move. Al Davis showed this when he moved his team to L.A. in the ’80s; he won in court.
Beg pardon, needs NOT to get owner approval..