Browns Brass met with Center Alex Mack
By Paul Noel
January 26, 2014; Honolulu, HI, USA; General view of the line of scrimmage as Team Sanders center Alex Mack (55) of the Cleveland Browns snaps the ball during the 2014 Pro Bowl at Aloha Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
According to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport the Cleveland Browns front office met with soon to be unrestricted free agent center Alex Mack over the weekend.
How serious are #Browns in keeping C Alex Mack and mending fences from old regime? Team brass met with the player this weekend, I’m told
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 3, 2014
The idea was to get Alex Mack more acquainted with the new front office. Browns source described re-signing him as their No. 1 priority.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 3, 2014
It was previously reported that Mack had yet to speak with the Browns in person and it would have to wait until his return home from a humanitarian trip to Brazil at the end of the February. The Browns previous regime under CEO Joe Banner and General Manager Mike Lombardi was rumored to have a lesser value on the center position and was poised to let Mack walk during free agency. New Browns General Manager Ray Farmer has made it abundantly clear that keeping the star power on this team is priority #1, and Mack is high on that to-do-list. The Browns have until 4 p.m. tonight (March 3rd) to place a franchise or transition tag on their free agents. Mack is arguably the top ranked center in the NFL, and according to NFL.com the #2 ranked offensive line player available in this years free agent class. The Browns will start the new league year (March 11th) according to overthecap.com with the second highest cap space available $56.9 million, the Oakland Raiders have the top spot with $66.5 million.