There are a number of notes pertaining to the league as a whole this afternoon. Let’s have a look:
- Adding to the increasing buzz surrounding the potential return of the NFL to Los Angeles, Albert Breer of the NFL Network writes that owners at the annual Fall meetings last week were presented with six potential sites for a stadium in LA. Per Breer, those sites are: “the AEG site in downtown Los Angeles, the Dodger Stadium site, a site at Hollywood Park with multiple parcels, a site that the NFL has been looking at for years in nearby Carson, a second Carson site on land that is currently home to a golf course and Ed Roski’s site in Industry.”
- Breer adds (via Twitter) that it is unlikely that the Raiders would be the first team on the list of clubs that could end up making the move to LA. He writes that many of the scenarios regarding a possible relocation involve the Raiders but also include the Rams and Chargers.
- Citing ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes that the NFL wants to shield commissioner Roger Goodell from testifying at the Ray Rice appeal hearing. Judge Barbara S. Jones, who will hear and decide Rice’s appeal, could compel Goodell to testify, but that is the last thing the NFL wants.
- Bleacher Report’s Jason Cole tweets that Jermichael Finley‘s disability insurance case has been an “eye-opener” for other players, as it is much more difficult to collect on such a policy than one would think.
- Mike Garafalo of FOX Sports writes that one of the issues discussed at last week’s Fall meetings was the possibility of a team being stripped of draft picks for player conduct policy violations.
- Robert Salonga and Mark Emmons of the San Jose Mercury News discuss how the circumstances surrounding 49ers‘ defensive lineman Ray McDonald demonstrate the conflicts of interest created when NFL teams hire sworn police officers as security.
- CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora reported earlier today that many NFL owners want someone other than Roger Goodell to handle disciplinary matters, and ESPN’s Chris Mortensen expounds on the issue. As Mortensen writes, one proposed modification would make it so that “the commissioner would not decide on the initial player punishment but rather yield to a neutral arbitration panel chosen by the union and league.” However, “Goodell would be the appellate officer or appoint a designated hearing officer if a player appeals his disciplinary action administered by the panel.” Nonetheless, union sources are skeptical of that proposal and indicate that any modification to the personal conduct policy would require collective bargaining.