Dickerson Rushing to a Falcon Tryout : Pro football: NFL’s second-leading runner wants to go, but he is still under contract with Raiders, so a trade would have to be worked out.

Is Raider running back Eric Dickerson about to become an Atlanta Falcon?

That’s what Dickerson wants, that’s what the Falcons want and both may get their wish if the Raiders get what they want in a trade.

The Raiders have given the Falcons permission to talk to Dickerson, who is scheduled to meet with Falcon officials in Atlanta tonight and work out for the team on Monday.

If all goes well, the next step would be to begin trade talks for Dickerson, 32, who has two years left on his contract.

“I feel strongly about Atlanta,” Dickerson said. “The Falcons are a young team that can go places. They’re a fun team, and it’s been a long time since football has been fun for me.”

Asked if he hoped a deal could be cut to send him to Atlanta, Dickerson replied: “Most definitely.”

“Right now, it’s just a situation we’re looking at. That’s all,” Ken Herock, Falcon vice president of player personnel, told the Associated Press. “We want to bring Eric in, get acquainted with him, just see if there’s any sort of mutual fit there.”

Although Steve Ortmayer, Raider director of football operations, was unavailable for comment Saturday, it is known that the club wants to make heavy use of running backs Gaston Green, obtained in an off-season trade, and Nick Bell, a two-year veteran who has been seldom used in the past.

That might not leave enough work for Dickerson, who wasn’t happy last season when he was a starter, but often saw little action in the second half.

Forced to share the backfield duties with Bell and Marcus Allen, Dickerson often found himself on the sidelines, frustrated, helmet in hand, when he felt he was ready to kick into high gear.

Perhaps his most frustrating game came at San Diego in late November. Dickerson rushed for 100 yards in 16 carries during the first half against the Chargers.

In the second half: one carry for three yards.

But the numbers on the scoreboard had a lot to do with that. San Diego led, 21-3, at halftime en route to a 27-3 victory. And when the Raiders trailed and had to pass, they preferred to have Allen in the backfield to block.

“Every time I got in,” Dickerson said, “I felt rushed, like I had to make something happen, like I was on borrowed time.

“Look, I know I can still run fast, and my running instincts are something I’ll never lose.

“In an offense like Atlanta’s, where the field is spread and you have a chance to hit a crease and go, I can be productive.”

Dickerson carried the ball only 187 times last season. He gained 729 yards, averaging 3.9 per carry.

That still left him with nearly double the total yardage of any Falcon ballcarrier over the last two seasons. Atlanta has not had a running back rush for 400 yards in either of the last two seasons.

With 1,270 yards rushing last season, the Falcons were last in the NFC and second worst in the NFL behind the Indianapolis Colts.

The Falcons expressed interest in Allen, who signed last week with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Now Atlanta has set its sights on Dickerson, but will probably offer only a low-round draft choice for him.

That might not seem like enough for the second-leading rusher in league history, but if they don’t trade him, the Raiders will have to pay Dickerson $3 million this season.

That’s a lot to pay a guy to stand on the sidelines for half the game.