Draft and Free Agency News

Some interesting Browns-related reports today. According to this article in the Cowopolis Dispatch, the Browns spent a lot of time at the Combine with RBs DeAngelo Williams of Memphis and Laurence Maroney of Minnesota. Based upon his published comments, Savage seems to have been particularly impressed with Maroney.

Interestingly, while Savage spent time interviewing running backs, one guy he didn't interview, according to this article in today's Plain Dealer, was Chad Greenway, the Iowa LB who has emerged as the consensus favorite among mock drafters to be the Browns first round pick. Of course, as Savage hastens to point out, the Browns didn't interview Braylon Edwards during last year's combine either.

Steve Doerschuk's team report in The Sporting News highlights some guys on the Browns' free agency priority list. Assuming the collective bargaining situation doesn't screw things up, the Browns have enough cap room to make a big difference next year if they choose their free agents well. Of course, there's more than a minimal risk that the impasse with the players union will screw things up, and since the Browns are one of the teams in a position to benefit most from free agency, well, you know how stories like this usually end, right?

Anyway, assuming there is an active free agent market this year, Doershuck notes that one of the guys on the Browns' shopping list may be Ravens' NT Maake Kemoeatu. Kemoeatu is listed at 6'5" and 350 lbs. (yeah, right), and a decision to go after him may reflect the team's belief that Haloti Ngata won't be there when it's the Browns' turn to pick. On the other hand, Kemoeatu may represent a less risky alternative to taking Ngata with the first pick. Risky? Here's a history lesson from a Buffalo Bills fan site about the perils of selecting a DT early in the first round.

One guy the Browns apparently won't have to replace in free agency is Orpheus Roye. Tony Grossi is reporting that the Browns came to terms on a new deal with Roye today.