ROSEMONT, Ill. – NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue doesn't hold all the cards in this week's realignment vote, but he holds enough. By proxy, he holds the voting cards of four franchises – the Ravens, Browns, Titans and expansion Houston Texans.

With the NFL's favored plan keeping 21 teams in roughly the same competitive playing environment, the voting process, which will be discussed Tuesday and finalized Wednesday, should be pretty simple. Consequently, the 11 teams that are radically affected by the change enter with a degree of resignation.

	Wayne Weaver wants to keep his Jaguars with the Ravens and Titans.

Cardinals owner Bill Bidwell knows he's facing a losing fight to stay in a division with his longtime biggest drawing card, the Dallas Cowboys. Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay doesn't want to be in a division in which he has to return to Baltimore every year, but if the votes swing a certain way, he might have to accept it.

Seahawks coach and general manager Mike Holmgren is fighting a switch to the NFC, but he knows there's not much he and team president Bob Whitsitt can do to stop it.

"You don't get too worked up about it because someone is going to have to do it," Holmgren said. "You can establish rivalries in a hurry. Plus, I think our new stadium, which opens next year, will overshadow the actual move out of the AFC West."

Don't misconstrue the fact that Holmgren, Bidwell and others will enter the meeting room without a voice. Seven plans have the main focus and new ideas will be entertained on Tuesday. The plan, though, is to try to vote out those plans by Tuesday afternoon that will slow down the process.

It is believed that there are more than 20 votes in favor of what is labeled "Option A1," one in which the Seahawks and Cardinals move into the NFC West and two new South divisions are formed. The AFC South in this plan features Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville and Tennessee. The NFC South has Atlanta, Carolina, New Orleans and Tampa Bay.

Four other "options" are based on A1. Seattle wants A2, which has the Chargers going to the NFC West and the Seahawks staying in the AFC West. Jacksonville Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver is pushing heavily for A3, which puts the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC South and puts the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC North.

Weaver wants that plan for two reasons. First, he believes the current six-team AFC Central should be split in two so that the Jaguars can retain two of their current rivals – the Ravens and Titans. He also believes that Baltimore is a bigger market than Indianapolis and that should be a factor to balance out a division that would include two of the smaller market teams – Jacksonville and Nashville.

"I don't particularly agree with that," Ravens owner Art Modell said, preferring to stay in a division with the Steelers, Browns and Bengals. "Market size has nothing to do with our business. We share money evenly."

Titans owner Bud Adams endorses Option A4, which puts the Titans in the AFC North with Cincinnati, Cleveland and Pittsburgh and leaves Baltimore and the Colts in the AFC South with the Jaguars and Houston Texans.

"We're still going to fight to stay with our AFC Central rivals," Titans president Jeff Diamond said. "We've made that abundantly clear in the past couple of meetings. We've considered moving into the NFC to get in a division with Atlanta, Carolina and Tampa Bay or New Orleans. But our preference is to stay with Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Cincinnati."

The fifth plan that might survive until Wednesday is option A5, which appeases new Houston Texans owner Bob McNair by putting his expansion franchise with Cincinnati, Cleveland and Pittsburgh. That doesn't please the Colts, who would have to play Baltimore, Jacksonville and Tennessee.

Even though Jim Irsay's father, Robert, passed away, Jim receives threats when the Colts have to travel to Baltimore. Robert Irsay pulled the Colts out of Baltimore in the middle of the night to take a deal in Indianapolis.

"We don't want to be in a division with Baltimore," Colts general manager Bill Polian said.

NFL owners are expected to vote out as early as Tuesday two of the most radical plans. Option A6 and A7 take the Cowboys out of the NFC East and put them in the West with the Cardinals, Chargers or Seahawks and the 49ers. While that move might appease Bidwell, he doesn't carry enough clout to let that plan survive past a couple of votes.

The Cardinals almost concede that they will be in the NFC West with the Rams, 49ers and probably the Seahawks.

"It's going to be a traumatic experience, but the pain is not going to be shared equally throughout the NFL," Bidwell told a reporter Friday.

Option A6 takes Miami out of the AFC East and puts it in the AFC South with Houston, Jacksonville and Tennessee. Option A7 puts St. Louis in the NFC South with old NFC West buddies Atlanta, Carolina and New Orleans.

Those moves work geographically, but taking longtime rivals such as Miami away from Buffalo and Dallas away from Washington don't appease the television networks, who contribute almost $70 million a year per team to the NFL bottom line.

	“	We have to be fair to our network partners. There are some things that should not be broken up. You shouldn't break up Philadelphia, Washington, Dallas and the Giants. You shouldn't break up the Packers, Vikings, Lions and Bears. ”
		— Art Modell, Ravens owner

"We have to be fair to our network partners," Modell said. "There are some things that should not be broken up. You shouldn't break up Philadelphia, Washington, Dallas and the Giants. You shouldn't break up the Packers, Vikings, Lions and Bears. You should keep Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Baltimore together."

Realignment has been a slow, meticulous process. Over the past two years, owners have worked together to make this difficult process more palatable. Last January, they voted to pool the visiting share of revenues in order to give no team a financial advantage for being in any division.

They've approved a schedule that is balanced so that each team plays every conference team every three seasons and faces every team in the other conference every four years.

"Because you play only six games in the division instead of eight, those other games gain so much more importance," Holmgren said. "Your approach is always the same. You want to take care of business within the division. You play each other twice. But those other games take on the same significance because you play two more outside your division."

One aspect not under consideration is future relocations of teams. The Saints and Vikings are trying to lock up new stadium deals, but if they can't, they may have to relocate.

"Team moves are irrelevant," Modell said. "Relocation is not a factor. There is no connection."

Which is why, in the end, the NFL should approve Option A1.

John Clayton is the senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.