Banta-Cain on outside looking in with release

Banta-Cain, who is in his seventh season, was tied with defensive lineman Mike Wright for the team lead in sacks (3) and started two of six games he played in. Banta-Cain did not start Sunday’s 59-0 win against Tennessee, but he had three tackles.

The Patriots are left with Derrick Burgess, Adalius Thomas, Pierre Woods, and Rob Ninkovich, as players who can line up outside in a 3-4 defense.

Banta-Cain was in the midst of his second stint with the Patriots, after New England drafted him in the seventh round in 2003. He played with the Patriots through 2006 before returning to his native San Francisco, where he signed as a free agent with the 49ers for 2007 and 2008.

Banta-Cain returned to New England, signing a one-year deal with a base salary of $620,000.

Aiken is in his second season with the Patriots after playing five years with the Bills.

“As we all know the decision to extend a contract is optional on both sides,’’ Keels wrote. “This extension represents Sam’s desire to remain a Patriot and the Patriots’ desire to keep him a Patriot. Sam is happy and grateful that the club extended this opportunity to him and plans to continue to contribute in any way that can benefit the team.’’

Aiken this season was voted special teams captain by his teammates, replacing Larry Izzo, who held the title for eight seasons before signing with the Jets after last season.

Aiken has gotten more chances at receiver this season. He has five catches for 56 yards.

But coach Bill Belichick said during his weekly appearance on WEEI yesterday that he “would be surprised’’ if the team made a move.

Big deals at the deadline are not the routine in the NFL. Nick Caserio, the Patriots’ director of player personnel, said he spoke with a few teams last week but that is not unusual.

“Some teams have called us, so I would say for this time of the year the conversations have been somewhat normal,’’ Caserio 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 cutdowns.’’

With receiver Joey Galloway inactive the last three weeks, it would seem the Patriots are in the market for a third receiver to complement Randy Moss and Wes Welker.

“I think you have to find if there’s a player on another club, you have to see if you can agree to some terms,’’ Caserio said. “There’s a variety of moving parts and I think it depends on the situation and I think you sort of take it as it comes and if there’s something that we feel makes sense, then we’ll look to consider it - whether it’s a trade deadline or whether it’s signing players off the street who haven’t been with a club.

“So there’s a variety of different avenues that you can use to improve or look to upgrade your team at different points during the year.’’

Belichick said there is “probably a pretty good chance that they’ll be out there this week,’’ but nothing was made official.

Players placed on those lists are eligible to practice for the first time in Week 6. Once the player begins practice, there is a 21-day window; at any time during that span a team can activate them to the roster, Caserio said. At the end of the 21 days, a team must decide to put the player on the active roster or the reserve list.