PHOENIX -- The weather was gorgeous -- per usual -- and there was no shortage of news from the first full day of meetings at the Arizona Biltmore.
Here are five things to know from a truly landmark day in the league's history.
- The Oakland Raiders became the third team in 14 months to announce their plans to relocate, as they'll become the first team in league history to call Las Vegas their home.
The league's owners voted in favor of the move, 31-1, just before lunch Monday. It needed just 24 to pass.
"My father used to say that the greatness of the Raiders is in its future, and the opportunity to build a world-class stadium in the entertainment capital of the world is one opportunity that will give us the ability to achieve that greatness," said Raiders owner Mark Davis.
It just won't be an immediate move. A stadium in Las Vegas won't be ready until 2020, and the Raiders are committed to playing in Oakland in 2017 and 2018. The team does not have a confirmed site for 2019.
That means the Browns could play in one of the final games in Oakland when they travel to play the Raiders in 2018. When it comes to Las Vegas, the latest possible date for the Browns' first trip to the Raiders' new home would be 2024. If the teams finish in the same spot within their respective division in 2022, they would be set to meet in Las Vegas in 2023.
- Browns owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam cast one of the 31 "yes" votes for the Raiders' move. Jimmy Haslam explained why during a session with local reporters later in the day.
"First of all the league and I think all the owners take relocation extremely seriously," Haslam said. "I think the league and Mark Davis and the Raiders did everything they could to try to work something out in Oakland, and it just didn't happen. At the same time, I think the league is sensitive and the Raiders are sensitive to the disappointment of their great fan base there in Oakland. At the same time I think we're all very excited about the potential of having a new stadium and being able to play in Las Vegas. I think the league worked very hard to work that out."
- Haslam said he's reminded everyday why the Browns have some of the most loyal fans in the NFL, and it doesn't matter where he is.
The Browns owner relayed a story about a recent trip to one of his Pilot Flying J travel centers in St. Mary's, Georgia, where he spotted a fan wearing a Fernandina Beach (Florida) Browns Backers T-shirt.
It's why the Haslams weren't surprised to see the team being "on track" with season ticket sales heading into the 2017 season.
"We're really grateful to our fans," Dee Haslam said. "That's one thing about Cleveland fans is they stick by their team. We admire that loyalty and greatly appreciate it. We're humbled by it. We have fans that, they see the hope and the light and we're going to keep fighting hard for them. We need them to come to the games. The players and the coaches, they need fans. It adds life to the whole game. So it's really important."
- In January, Jimmy Haslam divided the offseason into three key areas, and arguably the most important aspect of that grouping is just one month away.
With the bulk of free agency and re-signing of players in the rearview mirror, Dee Haslam said their hope in the organization making the most of its prominent picks stems from the strong chemistry between the key figures in the front office and coaching staff.
"We're working really well together, so I think that really does give us a lot of hope. I mean, you see how well our organization is working together. It does give us a lot of comfort. We're really excited. I mean really, really excited," she said. "You would never know in our building that [we had] the season we had last year. It's pretty amazing.
"We're real excited and very confident that it's going to be a good draft, and we have a lot of draft picks the next two years, so it makes a big difference. We should be excited, right?"
- As he reflected on the 2016 draft class, Jimmy Haslam expressed confidence in first-round wide receiver Corey Coleman, who missed a six-game chunk of his rookie season with a broken hand.
Coleman finished the season with 33 receptions for 413 yards and three touchdowns. Two of those scores and 104 yards came in his dazzling FirstEnergy Stadium debut Week 2 against the Ravens. Three days later, Coleman injured his hand during a routine drill in practice.
"If he stays healthy, he catches 40 to 50," Haslam said. "There were two other receivers drafted in the first round. One didn't play at all because he was hurt (Washington's Josh Doctson), and one didn't play hardly at all for other reasons (Minnesota's Laquon Treadwell). There were two guys picked in the second round who did pretty well but very few wide receivers come in and tear it up their first year. So we have high hopes for Corey, think he'll be a really good player."
