The quickest way out of town for certain NFL teams

Escape causes Several NFL franchises have been mentioned as candidates for relocation. A look at the lease situations: SAN DIEGO: The Chargers could move more easily than any other team. Their lease runs through 2020, but they can terminate in any year between Feb. 1 and May 1 by writing a termination check to the city. The amount drops each year: $54,670,000 in 2010; $25,820,000 in 2011; $23,980,000 in 2012, and so on. The lease prohibits the city of San Diego from suing. ST. LOUIS: The Rams have a 30-year lease but can get out of it as early as 2014 if the venue isn’t among the 25% most “state of the art” in the league. It isn’t one of those eight top stadiums and isn’t going to be. By next season, 23 NFL stadiums will be newer. MINNESOTA: Since 2002, the Vikings have been rent-free at the Metrodome. The lease expires in 2011, and last month the stadium commission angered the club with a two-year extension offer that a) called for the Vikings to get revenue from postseason home games, but b) threatened to reinstate an annual $4-million rent if the team doesn’t sign the extension. The Vikings, who want a new stadium, deemed that counterproductive. BUFFALO: The Bills have been trying to expand their market by playing some exhibition and regular-season games in Toronto. They’re having a hard time filling Ralph Wilson Stadium and want improvements to the venue. The team’s lease expires after 2012. The county reimbursed the Bills $2.5 million for stadium-related expenses last year. OAKLAND: The Raiders, whose lease was set to expire in 2010, last month reached a tentative agreement with Alameda County officials to extend the agreement through 2013. The deal must be formally approved by the Coliseum Authority, the county, the city of Oakland and the NFL. That should happen. -- Sam Farmer