The Patriots made a few moves on Monday, re-upping wide receiver/special teams ace Sam Aiken and releasing outside linebacker Tully Banta-Cain.
The Patriots did not make an official announcement on either move, but the contract extension for Aiken was confirmed to WEEI.com by a league source early Monday night, while the release of Banta-Cain was corroborated by the linebacker himself in an interview with Sirius Satellite Radio’s “Movin’ The Chains” show on Monday.
However, don’t expect Banta-Cain to be shopping around for a new job — he told the show it sounds like he’s coming back to New England.
“Yeah, I don’t know…” he said when asked if he had been cut by the Patriots. “There’s some stuff going on in terms of the roster. I’ve got to see what’s up with that situation.”
“Was it with the understanding that you’d be brought back?” he was asked by one of the hosts.
“Yes,” he replied.
The 29-year-old Banta-Cain has seen extensive time this season as an outside linebacker/defensive end hybrid, and is tied for the team lead in sacks with three. He did not start on Sunday, but played 29 defensive snaps and was credited with three tackles in the 59-0 win over the Titans.
The 6-foot-2, 254-pound outside linebacker is in his second tour with the Patriots, having been taken by New England in the seventh round of the 2003 draft. He played four years with the Patriots before signing as a free agent with San Francisco and spending two years with the 49ers. He signed a one-year deal for just over $600,000 with New England in the offseason.
As for Aiken, the wide receiver signed a contract extension that will take him through the 2011 season. The 28-year-old, a special teams captain, is in his second season with the Patriots and has a team-high seven special teams tackles in 2009. The 6-foot-2, 215-pounder out of the University of North Carolina has caught 13 passes for New England since the start of the 2008 season.
There’s the possibility that both moves could set the table for an in-season trade, as the NFL trade deadline is set for Tuesday at 4 p.m. Under Belichick, the Patriots have rarely made in-season trades — their only in-season deal since 2000 came on Sept. 11, 2006, when they dealt disgruntled wide receiver Deion Branch to Seattle for a first-round pick in 2007.
Belichick told WEEI’s “The Big Show” on Monday afternoon that he’d be surprised if New England made a deadline deal. Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio said New England has spoken with some teams, but the conversation level for this time of year has been “normal.”
“[We] spoke with a few teams last week. Some teams have called us, so I would say for this time of the year the conversations have been somewhat normal,” he said. “As we had mentioned last week, the talks are usually a little bit more intense during the training camp period when you get to the roster cut downs. I would say at this time of the year, really over the past week or so, they’ve been somewhat normal for this time of year.”
One name that has come up as a possible trade candidate is beleaguered wide receiver Joey Galloway. Mike Lombardi of the NFL Network has reported that the Patriots and Ravens may be discussing a deal that would send Galloway to Baltimore. The veteran, in his first season with New England, has struggled to get on the same page as quarterback Tom Brady, and has been a healthy scratch the last three weeks. On the season, he has just seven catches for 67 yards.
However, on Monday, Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome didn’t sound optimistic that Baltimore was on the cusp of a deal with anyone, let alone the Patriots.
“I've had dialogues with several different teams,” Newsome told the National Football Post. “I’ve got nothing pending right now.”
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