NFL NOTES : Cowboys Reportedly Near Deal to Trade Walsh : Football: Backup QB may be sent to New Orleans. First, though, the Saints want to deal Hebert to Raiders.

A deal that would send Dallas Cowboys backup quarterback Steve Walsh to the New Orleans Saints in exchange for a package of draft choices may be close to completion, the Dallas Times Herald reported today.

The newspaper said a league source told them Thursday that New Orleans President Jim Finks this week has asked at least five teams about the availability of their backup quarterbacks, and that one of those teams is Dallas. Another is the Raiders, where former starter Steve Beuerlein is now the backup.

Well-traveled John Fourcade is starting for the 0-2 Saints and former starter Bobby Hebert is a contract holdout.

Another source said the Cowboys had been in contact with the Saints on Thursday, and that the Saints are willing to offer a package of draft picks for Walsh, the newspaper reported.

A deal for Walsh possibly hinges on New Orleans’ ability to trade the disgruntled Hebert to the Raiders for a first-round pick, a source said. After securing a draft pick for Hebert, the Saints then would package that draft choice and several of their own for Walsh.

“The Saints want to move Hebert first,” the source said.

A back injury, its severity still undetermined, may keep the San Francisco 49ers’ John Taylor out of Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons at Candlestick Park.

Taylor was injured in the closing minutes of Sunday’s game against Washington, and Coach George Seifert said the receiver definitely won’t start against the Falcons. UCLA product Mike Sherrard, who has not started a game since December 1986, will open at Taylor’s split-end position.

New York Giants running back-return specialist Dave Meggett returned to practice Thursday, not saying much to clear up why he was a no-show Wednesday. “I was sick, man,” he said. “You already know why I was out.”

Team sources insist Meggett staged a one-day strike to protest his 1990 base salary of $90,000. He wants to renegotiate the deal to better reflect his Pro Bowl season of 1989 and his value to the team this season.

New England Patriots quarterback Steve Grogan may sit out Sunday’s game in Cincinnati because of a sore back.

Grogan did not practice Thursday for the second consecutive day, and Coach Rod Rust said his status remains uncertain.

“We’ll wait and see,” Rust said. “We might not make a decision until Sunday.”

If the Patriots decided to hold Grogan out, former Raiders quarterback Marc Wilson would get the start.