The NFL suddenly has too many teams making plans to move to Los Angeles

In a surprise move, the Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers announced plans to build a $1.7 stadium in Carson, California according to the Los Angeles Times, and the proposal could move the two teams ahead of the St. Louis Rams in the race to return the NFL to Los Angeles.

The Raiders and Chargers would share the new stadium much in the same way the New York Jets and New York Giants share MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

In a statement to the Times, the teams said they will continue to seek funding for new stadiums in their current cities:

"We are pursuing this stadium option in Carson for one straightforward reason. If we cannot find a permanent solution in our home markets, we have no alternative but to preserve other options to guarantee the future economic viability of our franchises."

This announcement comes less than two months after the owner of the St. Louis Rams announced plans to build a stadium in Inglewood, California near the Los Angeles Forum. In the weeks since, the governor of Missouri has announced plans to move forward with a proposed stadium, but it is far from a done deal as it is still unclear how the stadium will be funded.

The stadium for the Raiders and Chargers would be privately financed. According to the report, Los Angeles makes this possible since the city would have more support for the sale of seat licenses for the right to buy season tickets.

Curiously, all three teams have previously called Los Angeles home, with the Rams and Raiders leaving L.A. following the 1994 season and the Chargers playing their inaugural 1960 season in Los Angeles.

Presumably, the NFL only wants two teams in L.A., which means one of these three teams will be left without a chair when the music stops and with the Raiders and Chargers working together, the Rams would seem to be the odd-team out.