Cleveland Browns Free Agency Live Blog (Day 2) - Rumors, Signings, and More

[NOTE: Our live blog for Day 2 has continued here]

The first day of free agency got off to a big start on Tuesday, as the Cleveland Browns signed inside linebacker Karlos Dansby and strong safety Donte Whitner to bolster the defense. Our live blog covered it all with over 2000+ comments throughout the day.

Today, we're returning for another live blog, covering short one-liners about the latest small rumors, signings, or trades involving Cleveland or other NFL teams. You should also use the comments section as your free agency open thread! (Newest updates will be at the top of the live blog below)

2014 Browns Free Agency Live Blog - Day 2

2:30 PM: We are shifting our live blog over to a new thread, so that this page doesn't start loading slow like it did on Tuesday due to the number of comments.

2:10 PM: The latest word is that the Broncos are signing OLB DeMarcus Ware on a 3-year deal worth $30 million, with $20 million guaranteed.

1:32 PM: We're still hunting for updates, but there's not much out there at the moment. Remember that Bull & Fox will be on 92.3 the Fan again from 2 PM to 7 PM EST; they are always fun to listen to. Also, the Broncos posted a picture of SS T.J. Ward signing his contract to play for Denver.

1:20 PM: And here are some connections to offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, either from his days in Washington or Houston:

QB Rex Grossman
FB Vonta Leach, RB Jawan Jamison, RB Davin Meggett
WR Santana Moss, WR Josh Morgan, WR Dezmon Briscoe, WR Kevin Walter
TE Owen Daniels, TE Fred Davis, TE Richard Quinn
OT Eric Winston, C J.D. Walton

1:02 PM: We're getting heavy winds in Cleveland, so hopefully the power does not go out. While we're waiting for news, I took a look at some free agent connections to Mike Pettine:

DE Alex Carrington
ILB Arthur Moats, ILB Josh Mauga
OLB Willie Jefferson, OLB Garrett McIntyre, OLB Calvin Pace
CB Aaron Berry, S Jim Leonhard, FS James Ihedigbo

12:10 PM: My bargain bin players included the following: RB Ronnie Brown, FB Vonta Leach, WR Lance Moore, OT Eric Winston, ILB Larry Foote, and SS James Ihedigbo. All of them are still available, but Ihedigbo is the least needed now, since we already signed a strong safety. Brown wouldn't be needed if we signed RB Ben Tate, who is in Cleveland today. I'd still like to see pushes made for either Leach, Moore, Winston, and Foote, all of whom are veterans who can help improve depth under cheap contracts.

12:05 PM: A few days ago, I wrote a post about players I thought the Browns might look at in free agency. I listed my five top players, and then a few bargain players. I'll get to the bargain players in a little bit, but out of my top 5 players, three of them are still available. The top two (FS Jairus Byrd and OG Geoff Schwartz) have signed elsewhere. The three remaining players include ILB Vincent Rey, CB Captain Munnerlyn, and WR Emmanuel Sanders. The Browns have been linked to Sanders, and I'd still love to get the other two guys.

12:00 PM: Here is another good list of the top free agents still available, per our friends at Mile High Report. Their list took a cumulative average of 17 "top free agent" lists from the media, which gives a good, overall consensus of rankings. The top player still available? C Alex Mack. So far, we haven't heard any reports about Mack getting an offer from another team, but that doesn't mean teams aren't trying.

11:50 AM: Just before the noon hour, we have a new player who the Browns are reportedly interested in! Ian Rapoport of NFL.com says that the Rams and the Browns are looking at DL Alex Carrington. Carrington has been with the Bills from 2010-2013, which includes last year under Mike Pettine. Carrington started the first three games of last season, but suffered a season-ending quad injury and was placed on IR.

Versatile DL Alex Carrington is drawing strong interest from the #Rams and #Browns, per source.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 12, 2014

11:45 AM: Heading into free agency, the Browns had three players on their roster who were 30 years of age or older: K Billy Cundiff (33), QB Jason Campbell (32), and QB Brandon Weeden (30). Campbell and Weeden could be cut before long. So far in free agency, the Browns have signed three players. Two of them are over the age of 30: ILB Karlos Dansby (32) and CB Isaiah Trufant (31). SS Donte Whitner will be 29 by the start of next season.

11:42 AM: Our post on CB Isaiah Trufant signing with the Browns is now up.

11:00 AM: Big news on the running back front -- Adam Schefter of ESPN is reporting that Texans RB Ben Tate is in Cleveland right now, meeting with the Browns.

10:52 AM: We mistakenly thought that a tweet yesterday about fully guaranteed money in Donte Whitner's contract was referring to a cap hit in 2014. Instead, it referred to a cash spend in 2014. In reality, Whitner's base salary in 2014 will only be $2 million, and his cap hit in 2014 is just $4.25 million. It is not a front-loaded deal, and because of that, we are raising the Browns' available cap space from $33.06 million to $39.81 million. See the updated figures here.

10:20 AM: I've always wondered what the "insider" news at The OBR is like, because people always rave about the information that Lane Adkins provides. Adkins dusted off Twitter this morning and shared a few nuggets to the outside world, though, including:

• Cleveland remains interested in CB Darrelle Revis, but Revis remains reluctant to restructure/negotiate contract. Barring a drastic turn of events, Browns talk on Revis ends.
• The Browns still have an interest in RB Ben Tate, but not for big money.
• The remaining free agent offensive linemen aren't very impressive, but RT Mitchell Schwartz is still considered iffy heading into next year.
• He added to the sentiment that the Browns have an interest in ILB Arthur Moats, WR Emmanuel Sanders, and WR Julian Edelman.

10:18 AM: In terms of players the Browns could be looking at today, two names have been thrown out there by Brent Sobleski of the USA Today: ILB Arthur Moats and WR Emmanuel Sanders. Moats is the linebacker from Buffalo who played with Mike Pettine, while Sanders would be a slot receiver to possibly compensate for losing Hawkins back to the Bengals:

Was told Arthur Moats to Browns could get done today, and team still interested in Emmanuel Sanders. So, we'll see

— Brent Sobleski (@brentsobleski) March 12, 2014

10:09 AM: This will be something to watch -- multiple sources, including ESPN's Adam Schefter, says that the Bengals now plan on matching the Browns' offer sheet to WR Andrew Hawkins:

Bengals plan to match 4-yr, $12.2M offer sheet that includes $5,3M gtd that Cincinnati RFA WR Andrew Hawkins signed with Cleveland.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 12, 2014

10:04 AM: Early this morning, the agent of former Jets CB Isaiah Trufant tweeted that his client will become a member of the Cleveland Browns. He played under Mike Pettine for two years with the Jets, but is a small defensive back (5-8, 170 lbs) who primarily plays special teams. We'll have a full post on him a little bit later.

Congrats to @IsaiahTrufant for agreeing to terms with the browns. Much deserved and great things ahead!

— Doug Hendrickson (@DHendrickson41) March 12, 2014

10:01 AM: Rotoworld has a good, simple list of everyone who is left on the free agent market, by position.

9:54 AM: Good morning, Browns fans, and welcome to Day 2 of NFL Free Agency! If you are looking for a recap of what went down on the first day of free agency, check out Jon Stinchcomb's Day 1 Recap. The Browns came loaded with about $33.06 million still remaining in cap space, so we'll see what type of activity the Browns will be up to today. In the next few minutes, I'll get caught up with any of the rumors I might have missed this morning, so stay with us.