SAN DIEGO — The City Attorney's office warned a group seeking to bring an NFL team back to Los Angeles to stay away from the San Diego Chargers.

        A letter written by City Attorney Casey Gwinn said any contact by the Anschutz Entertainment Group could cause a significant drop in ticket sales if publicity about a possible Chargers move to Los Angeles grows.

        “The city trusts that AEG will conduct its business affairs in Los Angeles without interfering with the contractual rights and obligations of the city and the Chargers under the agreement,” the letter read.

        AEG said Wednesday that company president Tim Leiweke could not comment on the letter because he had not seen it.

        The letter comes a week after the Chargers announced that AEG had contacted the team to gauge its interest in moving to a 64,000-seat stadium the group hopes to build on the edge of downtown Los Angeles.

        A 1995 lease, which was intended to keep the Chargers in San Diego until 2020, allows the team to reopen contract negotiations Dec.1 if certain conditions are met. The earliest the team can leave would be after the 2003 season.

        The Chargers have said they need a new stadium to remain competitive in the NFL.

        Mark Fabiani, hired by the Chargers to coordinate their effort to get a new stadium, has said team officials told AEG to check back later this year when talks with San Diego officials were further along.

        “As we have said all along, the Chargers are focused on fielding a winning team and finding a publicly acceptable way to become economically competitive in San Diego for many years to come,” Fabiani said in a statement. “We are reviewing the city's letter to the Anschutz Entertainment Group, but the letter does not in any way change the Chargers' focus.”

        CARDINALS: If Arizona's new stadium for the Arizona Cardinals is going to be built in the Phoenix suburb of Mesa, the project will have to win the approval of city voters first. A group opposed to the city of Mesa's role in Arizona's planned football stadium has been successful in getting its measure certified for the ballot.

        On Monday, the Mesa City Council will decide whether to put the measure before voters or withdraw the city's stadium bid. If it proceeds, the city will have until June 26 to pull out of the stadium deal before incurring costs.

        Mesa voters have twice rejected stadium proposals, but Mayor Keno Hawker, an opponent of past proposals, is ready to campaign for this one. Even so, City Council members want a commitment from the Tourism and Sports Authority trying to build the stadium.

        TSA officials said they will decide by June 25 whether to stick with Mesa or scrap the deal and find a new host. The authority faces a Sept. 12 deadline — two days after the Sept. 10 Mesa election — to find a home for the project or face a countywide vote on whether to shut it down. That makes it risky for the authority to wait for the Mesa election's outcome.

        JAGUARS: Jacksonville signed free agent center and long snapper Kevin Long. A seventh-round draft choice out of Florida State in 1998, Long played four seasons with the Tennessee Titans and started 35 of 63 games.

        The 6-foot-5, 295-pound lineman also served as the Titans' long snapper.

        LIONS: Linebacker Stephen Boyd, Detroit's third all-time leading tackler, is retiring.

        Boyd, who had 773 tackles in his eight-season career, was a fifth-round pick in the 1995 draft from Boston College. He led the Lions in tackles each year from 1997-2000 but has been bothered by knee injuries in the past few seasons.

        STEELERS: The Steelers signed safety Chris Hope to a three-year contract on Thursday.

        The contract for Hope, a third-round draft pick out of Florida State, is worth $1,304,500, including a signing bonus of $399,500. He will receive $225,000 the first year, $300,000 the second and $380,000 in the final year of the contract.

        Hope, 21, played in two national championship games with the Seminoles.

San Diego says: Stay away, L.A.

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