San Antonio Saints update
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New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson remains deeply skeptical about the franchise's future in New Orleans, despite mounting pressure from the NFL to bring the team back to Louisiana for the 2006 season, sources close to the situation say.
The sources, who requested anonymity because of the sensitive nature of discussions between the Saints and the NFL, describe Benson as outraged by the intervention of league commissioner Paul Tagliabue in the matter and hardened in his desire to explore relocation options, including San Antonio.
…The Saints, it was learned, have proposed leasing space in a San Antonio Water System-owned facility as an operations center, replacing the team's temporary setup in the Alamodome…
Meanwhile, Benson attorney Phil Wittmann said Thursday he would meet today with Louisiana Superdome officials to consider a proposal that would extend the late November deadline for the Saints to invoke a force majeure clause in their lease agreement for the state-owned facility.
The contract provides a 90-day period after a natural disaster damages the Superdome, in which the team can invoke the clause and void the lease without paying an $81 million exit fee. That period, triggered when Hurricane Katrina hammered the Gulf South and severely damaged the Superdome, is believed to expire Nov. 29.
The sources speculate the Saints may agree to extend the deadline until late December or possibly after this season to postpone a showdown that promises to provoke bitter reaction in Louisiana, where the team has three more games to play this season. The Saints' final game at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge is Dec. 16.
Benson, the sources say, still plans to invoke force majeure, if not by Nov. 29 then by before the new deadline. Some state and city leaders in the private and public sectors say they would welcome the move….
