PRO FOOTBALL / DAILY REPORT : RAIDERS : Patterson Is Dealt to Cowboys

Elvis has left the team.

Special teams captain and reserve safety Elvis Patterson was traded to the Dallas Cowboys on Wednesday. The Raiders sent Patterson and their sixth-round pick in the 1994 draft to Dallas for the Cowboys’ fifth-round pick.

The Raiders also lost another reserve safety, Rickey Dixon, who suffered torn knee cartilage in last Sunday’s game against the New York Jets. There is not a projected return date for Dixon, who will undergo arthroscopic surgery.

The Raiders replaced Patterson with David Fulcher, the former Cincinnati Bengal safety, who will also be asked to play linebacker, on special teams and in the secondary. Fulcher was signed to a one-year deal.

Patterson’s departure comes after his second explosive episode with the team.

In training camp last year, Patterson was suspended for 13 days after body-slamming defensive backfield coach Jack Stanton after an argument. Last Friday, Patterson was reportedly late for a meeting, then had words with a coach.

Coach Art Shell declined to be specific regarding the latest incident, other than to say that it didn’t involve Stanton.

“It was just time for Elvis to move on,” Shell said. “There’s an agenda for the team, and there’s an agenda for the individual, and the team’s agenda comes first.”

Patterson, who will be 33 next week, joined the Raiders as a Plan B free agent before the 1990 season.

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Although Raider sources continue to insist it is not going to happen, veteran receiver Tim Brown thinks he could be on his way out of the organization.

With the trading deadline Tuesday, Brown says he has heard from his agent, Marvin Demoff, that there is talk “on the grapevine” of a trade to the Green Bay Packers for linebacker Tony Bennett. Bennett, however, remains unsigned and would have to put his name on a contract before the Packers could move him.

“It they do it, they do it,” said Brown, who will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season. “If not, then I’ll be here. Until (owner Al Davis) calls me up and says there is not going to be a trade, I’ll be open to whatever happens.”