Could a solid Chargers season mean more than a return to the playoffs?
The Chargers play the Arizona Cardinals on national TV on Monday night, starting a year where results on the field could help the team off it.
For a dozen years the Chargers have explored options to replace Qualcomm Stadium. It appears they have a willing partner in new Mayor Kevin Faulconer.
Or at the least, the Chargers have a leader who will engage in friendly dialogue.
Faulconer made it clear his No. 1 goal in dealing with the Chargers is to protect San Diego's taxpayers. But he said if there's a deal that benefits the team and the city, he'd consider it.
Both parties said any stadium proposal would be placed before the voters.
Might citizens be more inclined to consider a project if the Chargers are flush from a long run in the playoffs?
That template worked for the Padres.
Among the reasons Petco Park was approved was the residual glow of the Padres making a 1998 World Series showing.
And the Chargers' idea of combining a stadium and meeting space received a boost recently. Court rulings quashed the funding scheme for a San Diego Convention Center expansion based on taxes raised from hotel visitors. The team has floated the idea of building a multi-use facility to house the Chargers as well as large conventions' spillover from the nearby Convention Center, the cost shared by team owners and the public.
This season also gets underway with Junior Seau returning to the news.
The family of the former Chargers great has pulled out of the NFL's proposed concussion settlement with its former players. They claim the $675 million to be distributed by the NFL to thousands of players won't adequately cover the damages Seau and his family suffered.
Seau committed suicide in 2012 after absorbing countless blows to the head during his long professional career.
NFL players have until Oct. 14 to opt out of the settlement, with Seau being the biggest name to do so thus far.
