As league insiders try to divine the identity of the Cowboys player who supposedly was the subject of recent trade talks, the early speculation focuses on tight end Martellus Bennett.

At first, the speculation centered on Bennett and cornerback Orlando Scandrick.  But, currently, the signs are pointing to Bennett.

Bennett was a second-round pick in 2008.  He's stuck on the depth chart behind veteran Jason Witten.

Earlier today, owner Jerry Jones disclosed that he received a trade offer for one of the team's young players, but that Jones declined to do the deal.  Jones said that the offer was not made for one of the team's three talented tailbacks.

Panthers receiver Steve Smith, who said after Sunday's win over the Buccaneers that he's no longer an asset to the team, coincidentally began to hear chatter regarding the possibility that he could be traded.

"I heard multiple teams I was going to," Smith said Wednesday, per Steve Reed of CarolinaGrowl.com.  "You hear the stories about waking up and being traded.  You never want to be a guy who wakes up Carolina and hears there is a flight for you going somewhere else, so when you hear that you ask people.  I asked my agent if there was anything going on.  I got a few texts from different people in different states, so I had to make sure and investigate it."

But nothing was happening, according to G.M. Marty Hurney.

"We had no conversations with anybody about trading Steve Smith," Hurney said.

Then again, why would Hurney say anything else?  After Smith's comments from Sunday, anyone looking for a receiver would have been stupid not to call the Panthers and explore whether Smith might be available.  And it would be stupid for Hurney to acknowledge it, since if the season continues on its current path, Smith's offseason plans might include trying to run a permanent out route.

Well, there's been at least one deadline deal.

According to Jay Glazer of FOX, the Eagles have acquired linebacker Will Witherspoon from the Rams for receiver Brandon Gibson and a 2010 draft pick.

Witherspoon spent his first four NFL seasons with the Panthers, and he has spent the last three-plus in St. Louis, appearing in every game.

On Monday, Eagles coach Andy Reid hinted at a possible trade, and speculation centered on the linebacker position, given the recent injury to Omar Gaither.

Witherspoon is signed through 2011.  His current base salary is $2.5 million.  Next year, it doubles to $5 million.  In the final year of the deal, it remains at $5 million.

UPDATE:  Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that it's a fifth-round pick.

With nose tackle Kris Jenkins out for the year, the Jets are working the phones on the final day of the trading deadline in search of a replacement, according to Rich Cimini of the New York Daily News.

The most obvious target is Browns nose tackle Shaun Rogers.  Given the curious pipeline that has developed between the team coached by former Jets coach Eric Mangini and the man who fired him, G.M. Mike Tannenbaum, it's not such a far-fetched idea.

Cimini also points out that Browns defensive lineman Corey Williams is available.  But he's not particularly suited to take over the nose position in a 3-4 defense.

And that's the real problem the Jets face.  Starting-caliber 3-4 nose tackles are hard to find.  They are a rare breed -- strong, nimble, athletic, and very fat.  Their job is to clog up the middle of the line, allowing the middle linebackers to target the ball carrier.

The Jets' best bet might be to scour the depth charts of teams that use a 4-3 front in search of a backup tackle who might be suited to making the shift to nose in the 3-4, as both Jenkins and Rogers when they arrived in New York and Cleveland, respectively, in 2008.

Regardless, it won't be easy to replace Jenkins, and if the Jets are going to do it via a trade they've now got less than two hours.
 

The news came as a surprise on Monday.  The Patriots had cut linebacker Tully Banta-Cain, who had been playing well in his second stint with the team.

Even more surprising is the fact that Banta-Cain thinks he'll be back.

Banta-Cain was being interviewed by Tim Ryan and Pat Kirwan of Sirius NFL Radio when the news broke, and Banta-Cain suggested that the move will be temporary.

"There's some stuff going on in terms of the roster," Banta-Cain said, per Ian Rapoport of the Boston Herald.  "I got to see what's up with that situation."

Asked whether it's understanding that he'll be back with the Patriots, Banta-Cain said, "Yes."

It sounds like the Patriots plan to be adding someone to the roster, and that they didn't want to cut a non-vested veteran, who would have been subject to waivers.  Likewise, if they'd waited until after the trade deadline to dump Banta-Cain, he would have been required to pass through waivers, and he might have been claimed by the Chiefs, whose G.M. drafted Banta-Cain in 2003 when working as New England's V.P. of player personnel.

But, still, it's unclear why the Patriots needed to clear a roster spot the day before the trade deadline, and why they'd have an extra spot available for Banta-Cain once the dust settles.

It could be that they're potentially trying to add a player via a trade, and also trying to work a deal that would send another player (like Joey Galloway) to a new team. 

If/when they pull off one of more deals that result in no net increase to the roster, they can bring back Banta-Cain.  If they add a player via trade but can't work out a deal for Galloway, they can re-sign Banta-Cain and then cut Galloway.

So why would a team like the Ravens trade for Galloway if he's going to be cut?  If the Pats dump Galloway after today, he'll have to pass through waivers, which means he could be claimed by any team occupying a spot higher on the pecking order than Baltimore.

Reportedly spurned in their desire to trade for a 35-year-old receiver who hasn't done much to date in his first year with a new team, the Ravens are now reportedly interested in an even older receiver who has done even less in his first season with a new franchise.

Yes, the Ravens could swing a deal for Patriots receiver Joey Galloway, who has been a healthy scratch for the last three games.

Regarding the report that the Ravens called the Bills regarding the availability of Terrell Owens, Baltimore coach John Harbaugh, who worked for the Eagles during Owens' time there, threw caution to the wind Monday and talked about a guy who is under contract with another team:  "All I can say about T.O. is this -- I'm going to jump out on a limb here - I've got a lot of respect for T.O., OK?  Always have," Harbaugh said, per the Baltimore Sun.  "He's a football player, he practices hard.  I think he's got a really good heart, always have.  We have a good relationship.  Now is anything happening there?  Not that I know of.  And I think I would know if something was happening."

It's not happening because, as Peter King of NBC suggested Saturday and Jay Glazer of FOX specifcally reported Sunday in relation to the call from the Ravens, the Bills expressed no interest in moving Owens and his one-year, $6.5 million salary.

The Ravens currently have five wideouts on the roster:  Derrick Mason, Mark Clayton, Kelley Washington, Demetrius Williams, and David Tyree, who signed with the team only recently. 

The Ravens have shown no interest in other free-agent wideouts, including Matt Jones and Marvin Harrison.
 

It's been reported that every Chiefs player except quarterback Matt Cassel is available via trade.

One of them has indeed been moved.

Defensive tackle Tank Tyler tells our pal Nick Wright of 610 Sports Radio in Kansas City that he has been shipped to Carolina.

Alex Marvez of FOXSports.com reports that the Chiefs will receive a 2010 fifth-round pick for Tyler. 

Tyler was acquired by the Chiefs via the third round of the 2007 draft.  He doesn't fit into a 3-4 defense as well as he meshes with the Panthers' 4-3.  Carolina has had needs all year at the position, dating back to Ma'ake Kemoeatu's season-ending Achilles' tendon injury from training camp.

The trade deadline is tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. ET.

As pointed out in the Chiefs-Redskins portion our Morning Aftermath, Kansas City receiver Dwayne Bowe caught six passes for 109 yards.  It was his best output of the season.

Bowe's performance came at a time when rumors are rampant that he (and pretty much any other Chiefs player not named "Matt Cassel") is available as the trade deadline looms.

So was he motivated by the rumors?  As it turns out, no.

Bowe was motivated by a specific threat, from coach Todd Haley.

Per a league source, Haley tore into Bowe early in Sunday's win over the Redskins, urging Bowe to pick up his game and threatening to trade Bowe if he didn't.

Though some might have seen it as a chance to get over the wall and head to a contending team, the exchange seemed to light a fire under Bowe.

So we suppose it would be fitting if the performance prompts a team like the Dolphins or Ravens to make the Chiefs an offer for Bowe that G.M. Scott Pioli accepts.

With the 2009 trade deadline less than 28 hours away, the Eagles could be making a move.

Coach Andy Reid made that suggestion on Monday, during a press conference.

"We are keeping our eyes open." Reid said.  "We are looking."

The folks at myfoxphilly.com think that the trade could be aimed at replacing linebacker Omar Gaither, who sprained a foot during the game in which the Raiders put a foot somewhere in the Eagles' collective anatomy.

The bait could be receiver Kevin Curtis, who per Jay Glazer of FOX is rumored to be on the block, thanks to the performance of rookie wideout Jeremy Maclin.

Five years ago, the Ravens tried to swing a trade for receiver Terrell Owens.

He didn't want to go there, and so it didn't work out.

According to Jay Glazer of FOX, the Ravens have made another run at T.O.

Per Glazer, the Ravens called the Bills this week regarding the availability of Owens, and the Bills told the Ravens "thanks" and "no thanks" in immediate succession.  (As Peter King correctly explains it, the Bills aren't inclined to move a guy who sparked such a signficiant rush on the box office.)

If that call was made (and we're not saying it wasn't), it seems like a stretch to think that the Ravens would have wanted T.O., and vice versa.

Here's what we wrote when T.O. was available in March:  "Apart from the fact that Ravens coach John Harbaugh had a front-row seat for the T.O. drama in Philly, the bigger impediment likely would arise from Owens' accusation that Ravens G.M. Ozzie Newsome made a racist comment about him when Ravens were attempting to swing a trade for Owens five years ago."

Owens has claimed that Newsome told T.O.'s agent at the time, David Joseph, that Newsome "was a black man from Alabama just like T.O." and that "sometimes a black man's gotta be slapped."

So if the Ravens did make that call to the Bills about T.O., then it means they're really desperate for help at wideout.

Last Sunday, FOX's Jay Glazer reported that a fire sale could be coming in Oakland, with the Raiders willing to move any player except the young, talented ones.

So are there any?

The talk in league circles is that the only sacred cow is cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, who is incredibly talented but at 28 is hardly young by NFL standards. 

The rest of them are fair game -- presumably even defensive end Richard Seymour, who arrived earlier this year for a 2011 first-round pick.

There has been a surprising amount of fan speculation that the Browns are willing to trade left tackle Joe Thomas.

Possibly sparked by the fan speculation, some league insiders have been to take the possibility seriously.

Per multiple league sources, it's highly unlikely to happen.

For starters, we're told that coach Eric Mangini "loves" Thomas (not in that way -- but that possibility would have made for a compelling episode of Playmakers . . . not that there's anything wrong with it). 

More importantly, there's typically only one way to get a 10-year left tackle:  through the first round of the draft.  Few teams that have one will be willing to give him up -- especially when he's only in the third year of his contract.

That said, any player could be had for the right offer.  To get Thomas, however, someone would have to absolutely blow the Browns away, possibly with a Herschel Walker-type package of picks and/or players.

Two Jacksonville players who got in hot water last week could possibly be former Jacksonville players by 4:00 p.m. ET Tuesday.

For starters, it's common knowledge in league circles that the Jacksonville Jaguars are shopping Quentin Groves.

Groves, a second-round pick in 2008 as a defensive end, has been moved this year to linebacker.  On the team's current depth chart, Groves is listed as a third-stringer.

Groves was involved in an automobile accident on the way to the airport last week for the team flight to Seattle.  He missed the plane because of it.

There also are rumblings that receiver Mike Sims-Walker could be available, too.

Sims-Walker is regarded as an up-and-comer.  A third-round pick in 2007, he flashed promise in 2008 with a 107-yard game.  But injuries then limited his effectiveness the rest of the season.

This year, he has generated 278 receiving yards and three scores in three starts.  But his surprise deactivation last week might have landed him in a doghouse from which he'll have a hard time emerging.

The Ravens and Dolphins are widely believed to be looking for help at receiver.  It's unknown whether either team has spoken to the Jags about Sims-Walker.

It could be that the Jags are willing to move him if someone will pay a premium based on his perceived potential.  It's also possible that the Jaguars are trying to ensure that Sims-Walker has gotten the message regarding his "violation of team itinerary," which reportedly was fancy talk for hooking up.

Several factors point to the possibility of more active trade efforts as the October 20 deadline approaches.  First, it's not too early for the bad teams to throw in the towel and sell off veteran players who won't be part of the rebuilding effort.  Second, next year's draft is regarded as a very good one, making the picks more attractive to the rebuilding teams.  Third, several teams have coaches and G.M.'s who may feel compelled to win now or risk being replaced by one of the various head coaches lurking in the weeds with Super Bowl rings on their hands.

There's another factor that makes it easier to pull off a trade.  Even though the rules of the last capped year require a full acceleration of all future cap charges into 2009, a lot of teams have a lot of cap space.

But as Howard Balzer of the Sports Xchange points out, the Rams don't.  Specifically, they don't have the cap space to absorb the acceleration resulting from a trade of running back Steven Jackson.

Balzer says that dealing Jackson would trigger an immediate hit of roughly $5 million, and that the Rams wouldn't be able to do it without also finding other ways to instantly counter most of that amount with reductions elsewhere.
 
So while a case can be made for moving a guy who might not have anything left by the time this team becomes competitive again, don't count on it happening this year.

With the execution of a single trade, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers used up far more salary cap space than any of their 2009 player contracts consumed.

According to PewterReport.com, the trade of defensive end Gaines Adams to the Chicago Bears eliminates $15 million in cap space.  (Actually, PewterReport.com states that the amount of the cap charge will be $11 million this year and $4 million next year.  Since this is the last capped year under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, the trade or release of a player triggers the full acceleration in 2009.  Thus, all $15 million hits the cap now.)

So the Bucs were permitted to charge against the 2009 cap $15 million they'd already paid or committed to pay, reducing to a large extent the impression that they're being cheap.  

More importantly, the Bucs picked up a second-round pick in a draft that many think will contain many quality players for a guy who had done nothing in two-plus years of NFL action.

The Bears, meanwhile, currently don't have a first day pick in 2010.  Their first-round pick in 2010 was sent to Denver as part of the Jay Cutler trade.

Earlier today, the Dolphins were mentioned as a team potentially interested in Browns receiver/kick returner Josh Cribbs.

The Dolphins apparently aren't the only ones.

According to Jason La Canfora of NFL Network, several teams have been calling the Browns about Cribbs:  the Dolphins, Colts, Chiefs, Raiders, Jaguars, and 49ers.

But we're told that the Browns aren't interested in trading Cribbs in advance of the October 20 deadline, due in large part to one of the things that makes him attractive -- a grossly below-market contract that applies through 2012.

Then again, whoever inherits Cribbs also gets his discontent regarding his contract. 

Apparently, teams are willing to take their chances.

Even more apparently, the Browns are one of those teams.

With the Bills falling apart and receiver Terrell Owens generating barely 200 total receiving yards in five games, some have suggested that T.O. should be dangled for the benefit of a playoff contender, which could then yield for the Bills a draft pick or two for their trouble.

Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that it's not happening. 

Still, Schefter believes that the Bills should ponder the possibility.  "[A] team such as Chicago, which could use a play-making wide receiver to help unseat the first-place Minnesota Vikings, might find it worthwhile to part with a mid-round pick for an offensive playmaker that can help make a difference this season," Schefter writes.

We generally agree, but keep these three realities in mind.

First, when T.O. was available as an unrestricted free agent, only the Bills were willing to pay him at a rate of $382,000 per game.  No one else wanted him at that amount -- few if any would have paid him the league minimum. 

Second, though Owens was signed by the Bills before the Bears upgraded their quarterback position by trading for Jay Cutler, the Bears have resisted any and all opportunities to acquire other veteran receivers, either by signing them as free agents or trading for them.

Third, with Kraka-T.O. close to erupting at any given moment, the team needs to be sensitive to the perception that they're trying to dump him -- and he might use that whiff of an opening to try to force his way out.

We pointed out Saturday that the early emergence of bad teams coupled with the desperation that some other franchises might be feeling could make for a more active eleventh-hour trading cycle.

One of the aforementioned bad teams is already trying to move some merchandise.

According to Jay Glazer of FOX, the Raiders have been calling around the league and generally offering anyone in which other franchises might be interested.

The only exceptions?  The "really young talented guys."

(Um, do they have anyone that falls in that category?)

So don't be surprised if a coach or a G.M. who wants to win now or risk not being able to use next year's slate of draft picks explores the possibility of sending one or two of them to a team like Oakland, which seems to be willing to acknowledge reality and begin planning for 2010.

Though the Bay Area media continues to wait for a puff of white smoke to emerge from the 49ers' facility, a league source tells us that progress has indeed been made between the team and receiver Michael Crabtree, the lone unsigned pick in the 2009 draft.

Nothing is done yet, but it could be coming soon.

And there's a growing sense that the final deal will look to the untrained eye as if the Niners made concessions from the offer that had been on the table for months, but that the real numbers will show that Crabtree essentially got what he could have gotten in July.

If so, the holdout will have been a waste of everyone's time.

Meanwhile, Matt Maiocco of the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat reports that Crabtree is able to run effectively, based on the manner in which Crabtree eluded Maiocco after the former Texas Tech receiver emerged from his meeting with team officials.

"Let the record show," Maiocco wrote, "his foot is just fine. (His hearing might not be so good though, as my shouts went unanswered.)"

In the offseason, the Patriots traded for defensive end Derrick Burgess.  They've now cornered the market on guys with that last name by swinging a deal with the Ravens for linebacker Prescott Burgess.

In return, the Ravens will receive a conditional seventh-round pick.  And a half-eaten Three Musketeers bar.

The backup linebacker has appeared in both of Baltimore's 2009 games, and he made eight appearances in 2008.  Burgess entered the league as a sixth-round pick of the Ravens in 2007, and it's hard not to wonder whether the Patriots' goal in acquiring him is to get some intel about Rex Ryan's defensive scheme in preparation for the eventual rematch with the Jets, whom Ryan now coaches.

Meanwhile, the Ravens signed free-agent tight end Tony Curtis.

UPDATE:  To create a roster spot for Burgess, the Patriots have cut center Ryan Wendell.  The second-year player will be subject to waivers.  In other words, we hope he likes Detroit.