According to Mary Kay Cabot of the Plain Dealer, per a league source, the Cleveland Browns are close to adding a backup defensive back to their roster in the Saints' Usama Young:
Young (6-0, 200) was originally taken by the Saints in the third round of the 2007 draft out of Kent State. He's been mostly a backup for the Saints, where he played all four of his seasons. The two sides negotiated Tuesday and could agree to terms Wednesday.
Is this a buzz kill? On the first day of free agency negotiations, the only player the local media can confirm the team has had contact with is a backup defensive back from the Saints? It shouldn't be too much of a concern; while we don't have specific names, Cabot's source assures that the team has been in contact with their own free agents and have talked with free agents from other teams. They are doing their due diligence, but we'll have to wait to see if anything positive comes from it. Cabot said the Browns talked with Eric Wright and Robaire Smith on Tuesday, so the interest is there.
Our Saints affiliate, Canal Street Chronicles, makes Young sound like a very high character guy though, and even goes as far as comparing the potential loss to that of losing Scott Fujita to the Browns last year:
Usama isn't a defensive starter but he's been an asset on Saints special teams and just an all around good guy in the locker room and in the community. The loss of Young wouldn't be as damaging as Fujita's departure last summer but it would certainly hurt the Saints depth at safety. Young originally started his career as a cornerback, which makes him versatile and adds value.
The fact that Usama can play backup safety and a special teams contributor makes him sound like an upgrade over Nick Sorensen. That's good news, right? We'll see if Cleveland indeed signs him.