Nashville, Tenn. The Green Bay Packers have been shopping several players heading into the deadline for mandatory roster cuts Saturday.
Several league personnel sources said that among the players the Packers have been shopping are tackle Tony Moll and safeties Charlie Peprah and Aaron Rouse. All three would be candidates to be released when the Packers have to trim their roster from 75 to 53.
Its not unusual for the Packers to make calls around the league to see if there would be interest in making a trade. Their hope would be that a team low on the waiver priority list would want one of the players theyre offering and be willing to trade a draft pick to cut in front of the other teams.
At least two linemen are being shopped by the Packers and presumably one of the others is center Scott Wells, who lost a training camp competition with Jason Spitz for a starting spot. However, none of the scouts specifically identified Wells as trade bait.
If Moll is on the block, it indicates that the Packers are considering releasing him and want to see if they can get compensation instead. Of the backup linemen, Wells has the most trade value, but the Packers would have to get a strong offer for him because their only other option now to back up Spitz is rookie free agent Evan Deitrich-Smith.
Wells has started 54 games for the Packers and could be of value to the Seattle Seahawks, who will be without starting center Chris Spencer for several weeks. One scout said he thought Wells was still a viable starter and would be a much better option for the Seahawks.
Moll is the only other non-starter who might have trade value. But he has been wildly inconsistent this summer and hasnt established himself as a player the Packers must keep. He didnt help himself Thursday night against Tennessee by allowing a half sack from the left guard position, a spot he hasnt played in camp.
In previous years, Moll had to bounce around at right guard and right tackle, but this year he has been almost exclusively left tackle Chad Cliftons backup. If Moll is traded or cut, the Packers only other true left tackle is rookie Jamon Meredith, who allowed his man to chip in on the sack in which Moll was beat.
If Clifton got hurt, more than likely theyd move left guard Daryn Colledge to left tackle and insert rookie T.J. Lang at left guard.
In the case of the safeties, the Packers will keep only four and have established a pecking order of Nick Collins, Atari Bigby, Anthony Smith and Jarrett Bush. Peprah is one of the teams top special teams players, but Smith has been solid in that area and would make up for his absence.
Peprah has been sidelined since Aug. 22 with soreness in his left knee and there has been no indication he will return soon.
Rouse was competing for a spot in the top four when he suffered a right hamstring pull Aug. 20. He has not practiced since then and the coaches will have only one exhibition on which to judge his performance in coordinator Dom Capers new 3-4 system.
Theres always the possibility that Rouse will be put on injured reserve, but coach Mike McCarthy told the teams television crew in a production meeting before the game that Rouse might be able to practice next week.
If the coaches think he doesnt fit their system, theyll trade him or let him go. Safeties coach Darren Perry has been on the 6-4 Rouse all summer about playing with more knee bend and lower pad level to improve his tackling.