Giants owner John Mara expects ‘one or two’ L.A. teams in 2016

They say the worst thing you can tell a cop is that you had “one or two” after he pulls you over and asks how many drinks you had. It implies you’ve had many more.

By this metric, there will be roughly 12-15 NFL teams in Los Angeles in the next calendar year.

OK, perhaps we’re getting ahead of ourselves on that estimation. But judging from the words of New York Giants owner John Mara on the eve of the NFL owners’ meetings, it appears that the league is fast-tracking a return to L.A. after 20-plus years of dormancy there without an NFL franchise. Or two, for that matter.

“I think there’s going to be one or two teams playing in L.A. next year — 2016,” Mara told Newsday’s Bob Glauber. “Maybe a temporary stadium [next year], but I think — and this is just my opinion — that one or two teams will be playing somewhere in L.A. next year. But we’ll see.”

Which teams? Mara, not shockingly, declines to say. But we have the usual suspects: the Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers and, by most accounts the most likely and motivated candidates, the St. Louis Rams, whose owner, Stan Kroenke, happens to own a tract of land near the old Hollywood Park that, oh, might just make for a nice stadium for football. Kroenke, per reports, has submitted a report that includes stadiums plans for two teams to co-habitate.

Mara said the owners would not vote on the L.A. situation at this week’s meetings but will be updated on the progress of the market, an indication that the league is doing advance work on the country’s second-biggest TV market and whether it can successfully house two teams.

It appears that it’s reaching foregone conclusion status quickly, even if this week might not provide more than  rampant speculation.

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm