Browns Reportedly Close to Meeting With DE Alex Carrington

Since the start of free agency, the Cleveland Browns have had a reported interest in DE Alex Carrington, formerly of the Buffalo Bills. Carrington started three games last season in Mike Pettine's defense before landing on injured reserve with a torn quadriceps. Carrington has been drawing interest and meeting with several teams, but now it sounds like he might be ready to meet the Browns, according to Ryan Talbot of Bills Mafia and Ryan Alton of DraftBrowns:

Alex Carrington will be meeting with the #Browns.

— Ryan (@RyanTalbotBills) March 18, 2014

Clarification: Not sure if Carrington’s meeting with #Browns begins tonight or tomorrow, but he arrived in Cleveland tonight.

— ryan (@RyInCBus) March 19, 2014

Carrington would be a relatively high-profile signing, given the fact that he was a starter for Pettine at the beginning of last season. The Browns already have a ton of depth on the defensive line: Phil Taylor, Desmond Bryant, Ahtyba Rubin, Billy Winn, John Hughes, Ishmaa'ily Kitchen, and Armonty Bryant take up seven spots. It's hard to imagine them carrying an eighth.

Kitchen would seem like the most expendable, but then, Rubin's large contract has to also come to the forefront of attention again. Or, as Brent Sobleski of the USA Today said, maybe this is just another move by the Browns' front office to "steal away from a division rival":

Potential benefit of Browns' interest in Carrington is Steelers also want to sign him, and Pitt's D-line depth is paper thin.

— Brent Sobleski (@brentsobleski) March 18, 2014