NFL Owners Meetings: Deflategate, PAT changes and NFL in LA

One of the more intriguing NFL Owner's Meetings in recent memory will take place this week in San Francisco from Monday through Wednesday.

Deflategate, altering the PAT, and the NFL moving back to Los Angeles are among the topics on the docket during this week's meetings between all 32 league owners. The first thing that will likely be addressed is Deflategate and the controversy surrounding the New England Patriots and quarterback Tom Brady.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft will be in attendance, marking the first time since the Brady decision that he will be in a room with commissioner Roger Goodell. The two long-time friends are now adversaries as Brady and the Pats look to get his suspension overturned, with Goodell overseeing his appeal.

"To receive the harshest penalty in league history is just not fair," Kraft said, via the MMQB. "The anger and frustration with this process, to me, it wasn’t fair. If we’re giving all the power to the NFL and the office of the commissioner, this is something that can happen to all 32 teams. We need to have fair and balanced investigating and reporting. But in this report, every inference went against us … inferences from ambiguous, circumstantial evidence all went against us. That’s the thing that really bothers me.

"If they want to penalize us because there’s an aroma around this? That’s what this feels like. If you don’t have the so-called smoking gun, it really is frustrating. And they don’t have it. This thing never should have risen to this level."

Once that's been discussed (don't expect any kind of settlement there for months), several possible rule changes will be discussed. The owners are expected to pass a major change in what results after touchdowns, specifically the PAT.

In March, owners ordered the competition committee to come up with a proposal to change the game's most boring play. The committee is recommending two-point conversions take place from the 2-yard line and the point-after kicks occur from the 15. The extra point was converted at a 99 percent rate last year. Adding some more excitement to the play is something the league is intent on doing this week.

Another part of the PAT the league may change is whether or not the defense can return any play for the subsequent points. In college, a blocked extra point can be returned the other way for two points. The same holds true for a fumble or interception on a two-point attempt. In the NFL though, the defense cannot score two points in any manner on a PAT or two-point try.

The NFL will also consider procedural changes to the pregame chain of custody of the footballs. Current rules dictate that each team supplies the footballs they use on offense during a game. Those balls are later given to a team-appointed attendant after being inspected by the game officials prior to kickoff.

The NFL has discussed the possibility of having the footballs in the custody of NFL-appointed attendants following the pregame inspection. That procedure is already used for the Super Bowl.

The biggest topic on deck for this week will be the possibility of two franchises moving to Los Angeles. St. Louis owner Stan Kroenke is pushing hard to build a stadium in Inglewood, California for the Rams to move to. Plans to build a stadium for the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders in Carson are also expected to be discussed. This will all happen while politicians in San Diego are expected to present their stadium plans for the Chargers on Wednesday.