WASHINGTON (CBSDC) – The Washington Redskins may play their home games in Maryland, but the District’s mayor hopes a move — and name change — are in store for the future.

D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray said Wednesday that any discussion of moving the Redskins inside the city limits hopefully would be accompanied with a potential name change. The Redskins name has long been considered a racial slur but team ownership hasn’t changed the name.

“I think (the name) has become a lightning rod, and I would love to be able to sit down with the team and others who are concerned with this and see if a change should be made,” Gray said.

Gray noted that a return to the District probably would involve the federal government, which owns the land where RFK Stadium currently sits and a new stadium likely would be built, and may impose conditions like a name change.

“I’ve talked to the team. We have had very preliminary discussions because, obviously, they have a lease,” Gray said.

Gray called the team’s current lease in Landover, which runs through 2026, “very solid and strong.”

The team has made no statements indicating a move or a name change are in the works.

WNEW’s Matt DelSignore contributed to this report. Follow him on Twitter.

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