News » receiver Andrew Hawkins to a contract

CLEVELAND - The Browns moved a step closer to swiping a player from one of their AFC North rivals. Cleveland signed Bengals slot receiver Andrew Hawkins to a contract offer sheet on Thursday, a Browns spokesman said. Cincinnati will have five days — until next Tuesday — to match the reported four-year, $13.6 million deal, which includes a $3.8 million signing bonus, or theyll lose the speedy and elusive Hawkins. The Browns are in the market to fill the slot position after releasing troubled wide receiver Davone Bess last week. The Bengals have not said what they intend to do with Hawkins, who caught just 12 passes last season and missed four games with a high ankle sprain. In 2012, Hawkins had 51 catches for 533 yards and four touchdowns. The 28-year-old Hawkins was in Clevelands rookie minicamp in 2007, but wasnt signed. He played in the Canadian Football League before signing with the Bengals. If he joins the Browns, the 5-foot-7 Hawkins would provide a nice complement for Pro Bowl wide receiver Josh Gordon and another option for quarterback Brian Hoyer, who at this point is the favourite to begin next season as Clevelands starter. As they await Cincinnatis decision on Hawkins, the Browns are exploring other options and are believed to have interest in New Englands Julian Edelman, a free agent who caught 105 passes last season as Tom Bradys primary target. Edelman took over the role once held by Wes Welker and finished with 1,056 yards receiving and six touchdowns. The former Kent State quarterback also handled punt return duties for the Patriots. He has another local connection because he was a teammate on the Patriots with Hoyer, who backed up Brady for three seasons. On Thursday night, the Browns hosted Houston free agent running back Ben Tate, who could fill a major hole for Cleveland. Tate was supposed to meet with the team on Wednesday but his visit had to be postponed because of a severe winter storm. Tate rushed for 771 yards and four touchdowns last season, his third with the Texans. He has been on Clevelands radar for months, starting soon after the club traded Trent Richardson to Indianapolis for a first-round draft pick. Tate has averaged 4.7 yards per carry and hes rushed for 1,992 yards and 10 TDs. The Browns didnt adequately replace Richardson and their rushing game was almost nonexistent. Earlier in the day, the Browns signed tight end Jim Dray to a three-year, $5.62 million contract, with $2.25 million in the first season. The 6-foot-5, 255-pounder spent the past four seasons with the Arizona Cardinals, setting career highs with 26 catches for 215 yards and two touchdowns last season. Primarily a blocker, Dray gives the Browns depth at tight end behind Pro Bowl Jordan Cameron and Gary Barnidge. Dray was impressed that the Browns showed early interest in him. "Just hearing from my agent that the Browns were pretty aggressive from the start of free agency," said Dray, drafted out of Stanford in the seventh round in 2010. "I thought that theyd be a great fit for me, so the feeling was mutual and Im really excited to be here. Ive been watching (offensive co-ordinator) coach (Kyle) Shanahans offence for Washington the past couple years, and the way they used their tight ends seemed like a good fit." The Browns also are waiting for what happens with Pro Bowl centre Alex Mack. They placed their transition tag — worth $10.039 million for one year — on him last week and will have five days to match any offer if he signs with another team. Mack has until July 22 to sign his transition tag and its possible his situation could drag on. Zach Randolph Jersey . - Henrik Samuelsson and Curtis Lazar each had two goals and two assists as the Edmonton Oil Kings secured top spot in the Eastern Conference by defeating the host Red Deer Rebels 7-4 on Saturday in Western Hockey League action. Garrett Temple Jersey . Defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, the Houston Texans No. 1 pick in the draft, was on the field Tuesday for the first time with former NFL Defensive Player of the Year J. http://www.grizzliesbasketballpro.info/Brandan-Wright-Grizzlies-Jersey/ . That further limits the options of Australia coach Ewen McKenzie, who on Monday suspended six players who were involved in a night out in Dublin ahead of the Saturdays 32-15 win over the Irish. The Wallabies play Scotland on Saturday before facing Wales on Nov. Custom Memphis Grizzlies Jerseys . The shortstop still grieves, but it will be nights like the one Segura had in a 5-2 victory Monday over the Cincinnati Reds that will provide some distraction. Bryant Reeves Jersey . -- Josh MacDonalds second goal of the game kept his team alive as the Peterborough Petes edged the host Kingston Frontencas 6-5 in overtime on Friday in Ontario Hockey League playoff action.Due diligence. It was said at least three times but as the music blared out louder there may have been a fourth one sneaked in. At a media get-together this week, I asked Toronto FC general manager Tim Bezbatchenko about how important it was for the team to scout and recruit better. The 32-year-old nodded his head often throughout my question. He had watched, as an outsider from the league offices, Toronto FC repeatedly throw darts at the transfer market - both domestically and overseas - in the hope they would be able to somehow hit the bullseye. Not surprisingly, watching players on DVDs and getting tips from agents you know well didnt work out. The darts thrown not only missed the board but came back to hit them directly in the face. Designated players turned out to be old, injury-prone and unreliable while most of Torontos non-DP recruits have all been paid far more than the value they gave on the field. "Youd be amazed how many players are recruited without being watched in person but we want to go and see the players, watch them play, talk to them and we have been to many places doing our due diligence," said Bezbatchenko. There it was again. Due diligence. It is one thing to shop carefully when you have little in your pocket but when the pockets are deep, more doors open, increasing the risk of wasting money. It appears a door remained opened the longest in Brazil and it is there where Bezbatchenko and his team decided to invest. The signing of 24-year-old Gilberto Oliveira Souza Junior represents a new era for the club. No one quite knows just how successful the Brazilian forward will be but what is already clear is that he is the face of a new Toronto FC, on and off the field. Gilberto is Bezbatchenkos guy. The GM may have been handed a difficult hand when taking the job but the two aces in the pack were his future designated players and the money he could use from Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment to attract them here. Aces have been held in the hands of past GMs at this club but far too often, they showed too many people their cards. In an off-season where Toronto FC have attracted a lot of press and attention over the identity of their new DPs, Bezbatchenko and his team deserve tremendous credit at keeping the Gilberto target a secret for as long as they did in Canada. Since the departure of Kevin Payne, Bezbatchenko, MLSE President and CEO Tim Leiweke and head coach Ryan Nelsen have told anyone willing to listen that two designated players will be arriving to play up front for this club next season. Names such as Jermain Defoe, Alberto Gilardino and Samuel Etoo have all been linked with the club, and Defoe appears to have signed ahead of a move in January, but the choice of Gilberto as the second DP over another aging European name takes the club down a different path. It is a path many other MLS clubs have shopped on. The likes of Diego Valeri, Gabriel Torres and Hernan Bernadello are all on a designated player wage in the league but are in their 20s (not a 23 or under DP) and have been signed to play full seasons, and make a significant impact, on the pitch, rather than spending half a season injured lighting up billboards selling tickets. Scouting the likes of a Thierry Henry, Robbie Keane, or a Defoe for that matter, is simple. It doesnt happen. You know how good they are and the work put in to get them is around recruiting and selling your franchisee to them.dddddddddddd They are outstanding players who make a difference in MLS but the younger, less expensive but potentially just as explosive DPs are a true test of a clubs ability to scout and recruit real talent. And that has taken the clubs recruitment team to Gilberto. The striker arrives in Canada, coming off a season in Brazil where he netted 14 goals for Portuguesa to help them avoid relegation in the final day. He is relatively unknown in North America but two men who know him very well are writers Tim Vickery and Rupert Fryer. "He quite often plays up top on his own, has a nose for goal, is also quick enough to be played behind the defensive line. Doesnt combine a great deal, not really a back to (the) goal player who will bring others into the game," Vickery, BBCs man in Rio, told TSN.ca. "Hes quick, strikes the ball well from distance and has been excellent in front of goal this year, but will arrive in MLS following the first standout season of his career, he could be an excellent signing and clearly has what it takes to score a lot of goals for Toronto, but he is no world beater," Fryer, freelance South Amercian football writer, told TSN.ca. Coming off just one big season in Brazil could lead to some skeptics but Vickery thinks he may have turned the corner: "Confidence is fundamental (with strikers) and now he has had a bigger role - with Portuguesa, where the team performed well above expectations. They played with attacking full backs to stretch the opposing defence to get that ball in behind them early for him to attack and I think he liked that." When asked how he would operate in a front two with someone like Defoe, Fryer said: "He played as a number nine for Portuguesa but Id expect hed be the one charged with dropping behind Defoe if the two teamed up for TFC. The Brazilians pace and willingness to commit defenders one-on-one would make him a better choice for the second striker role." "He has tended to be happier as a lone man up top in a 4-2-3-1. The worry you have with Defoe is both are goal poachers and neither are great combination players," added Vickery. "Not sure if they would be a natural combination off the top and there is not a lot of height in there." How the two new signings connect will be crucial to the teams success and overall structure as a system on the field. It appears both men are finishers rather than creators but those wondering who will supply the strikers should be aware that the requirements of any striker in a good league includes link-up play. The pair will not be standing together on the penalty spot, waiting for the ball, like they are waiting for a bus. In recent years, Defoe has evolved and is actually much more than just a front man who does his damage in the six yard box, or on the shoulders of the last defender. The Englishman enjoys coming deep to link up with teammates and actually showed he was better than an out-of-form Roberto Soldado at that in each of his last two starts for Tottenham in the Premier League, coming deep and drifting to both flanks to be apart of the attack. Should Defoe sign in January, as expected, the attacking duo that Bezbatchenko will have put together may have some work to do as a partnership but at least this time the club will have its aces ready to go when the cards are finally dealt come opening weekend next March. 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