I don’t think Portland was ever in the mix. Phil Knight is the only person in the state who can afford an NFL team, and he’s not gonna be around for long (and he’s pretty focused on the Ducks…)
There may of course be some out of state owners, but there’s no obvious stadium solution here. There is an ownership group trying to lure an MLB team, but they are on roughly plan Z as the city has battled every sensible location.
And….its just not that big a sports town. The Blazers draw ok and soccer is popular, but similar size metros like St Louis, San Diego, San Antonio, and Austin have …. a lot more potential NFL ticket buyers.