NFL trade deadline: Dwayne Bowe to Bengals among proposed deals by USA Today

It wasn't too long ago that Dwayne Bowe to the Miami Dolphins was a trade rumor swirling unfounded in the NFL winds. The media picked up on it then quickly dismissed it. Yet as the trade deadline approaches on the Tuesday after Week 8, Bowe is likely to be a name thrown around here and there -- even if there's no merit to a deal.

Whether or not Scott Pioli will move his best wide receiver is debatable, but Nate Davis of USA Today says there's one deal he'd like to see happen: Bowe to the Cincinnati Bengals. In a recent column concerning the five NFL trades he'd like to see, he proposes the Bowe trade among many others that include Josh Cribbs and Dwight Freeney. Davis writes:

He never did get the long-term deal he wanted and was forced to settle for the $9.5 million franchise tag in a city he apparently wants to leave. But the Bengals have the cap room to pay a player like Bowe long-term and, more important, they could clearly use a bona fide wingman to complement A.J. Green.

Bowe isn't a transcendent talent, but his size and ability to move the chains would perfectly mesh with the field-stretching Green, who was essentially erased last week by the Pittsburgh Steelers, who didn't seem to fear Andy Dalton's other options.

Meanwhile, Kansas CIty Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli, who already has a Bowe clone in Jonathan Baldwin, could get a nice parting gift for the free-agent-to-be ... assuming Pioli's still around to shape the roster in 2013.

While the Bengals could use another receiver like Bowe, the reality is that nearly every team needs a top receiver to add to their passing game. The idea that Baldwin and Bowe are interchangeable is to oversimplify the Chiefs offense and to completely miss the strengths of both receivers. Even if they were a "clone", which they are not, Baldwin has hardly shown the ability to take over as the team's top receiver.

The thought makes for an interesting debate, but it's not going to happen.