Mort & Schefter: Trades, Romo, Turner, Lacy

Teams have started to make “exploratory phone calls” in advance of the NFL’s November 1 trade deadline, according to Chris Mortensen and Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. While the scribe duo notes that the NFL never seems the amount of trade activity that does the NBA or MLB, a few more deals could be made this season due to the influx of young general managers around the league. For a complete record of all the deals already consummated this year, check out PFR’s 2016 NFL Trade Tracker.

Here’s more from Mort and Schefter:

• The Cowboys aren’t sure if they’ll bench rookie quarterback Dak Prescott once Tony Romo returns from injury, but Dallas has no interest in trading Romo at this time. Romo is unlikely to be healthy before the trading deadline, meaning no other club would feel safe dealing for the veteran, and the financial ramifications of such a move are untenable from the Cowboys’ perspective. Trading Romo right now would force nearly $32MM to immediately accelerate onto Dallas’ salary cap.
• As many as two collegiate teams are eyeing Vikings offensive coordinator Norv Turner for a head coaching position, per Mortensen and Schefter, but it’s unclear if Turner would reciprocate such interest. Turner has never been a head coach in the NCAA, and was last involved in the collegiate ranks in 1984 as USC’s OC. He’s posted a career record of 114-122-1 as a head coach in the NFL.
• Packers running back Eddie Lacy had ballooned back up to 255 to 265 pounds before being placed on injured reserve today, report the ESPN scribes. Lacy worked all offseason to get his weight down, but apparently the pounds had come back. Lacy will undergo ankle surgery and is likely out for the year, although he could conceivably return late in the season.