Patriots Chad Ochocinco May Pay Aaron Hernandez For No. 85

Problem is .... the number currently belongs to Patriots STUD tight end Aaron Hernandez -- who rocked #85 in 2010 ... when he DOMINATED all season long.

We're told Ochocinco -- who CHANGED HIS LAST NAME to match his jersey number a few years ago -- wants to PAY Hernandez to give up the digits ... and sources say Chad feels "no number is too high."