The Browns have signed 31-year old WR Mike Furrey to a 1-year deal.  Furrey is a good, versatile football player as he can literally be on the field at any time.  He has started at both safety and WR in his NFL career.  He is also a solid special teams player.  Furrey played in 9 games for the Lions last season catching 18 passes for 181 yards (10.1 avg).  He has now played in 62 games at WR in his career catching 198 passes for 2,128 yards (10.7 avg) with 7 TD grabs.  Furrey also has 61 tackles, has defensed 8 passes and he has 4 career interceptions (1 returned for a TD).  If the Browns get in a pinch Furrey could return kicks for them.  He has returned 23 punts for 213 yards (9.3 avg) and also 20 kickoffs for 375 yards (18.8 avg) in his NFL career.  Look for the Browns to have Furrey concentrate on offense where he could earn the #3 WR job with a good training camp.

The Cleveland Browns have claimed linebacker Bo Ruud off waivers from the Patriots.  Get used to Eric Mangini plucking unwanted players from the Jets and Patriots.  Ruud is 6′3″, 234 pounds and he didn’t get onto the field as a rookie.  The Browns are hoping that he can imitate his brother Barrett of the Bucs who is one of the better linebackers in football.  This was a nice low risk chance the Browns are taking.

The Cleveland Browns brought undrafted rookie QB Graham Harrell in for a tryout.  He left Berea without a contract but the Browns liked what they saw.  Harrell didn’t have much of a chance to unseat Brady Quinn, Derek Anderson or Mangini favorite Brett Ratliff for a spot on the roster.  If one of the QBs is injured or traded the Browns probably wouldn’t hesitate in bringing Harrell back into the fold.  Harrell looks the part as he stands 6′2″, 217 pounds.  He played in 44 games (38 starts) in four years at Texas Tech.  He completed 1,403 of 2,011 passes (69.8%) for 15,793 yards with 134 TD passes and only 34 interceptions at Texas Tech.  The Browns will keep Harrell’s phone number on speed dial in case the need for him arises.

The Cleveland Browns drafted for need here in picking up James Davis.  Davis should have little trouble making the Browns’ opening day roster providing that he stays healthy.  He is 5′10″, 207 pounds and runs a 4.5 40.  In four seasons at Clemson, Davis played in 49 games (42 starts) in which he carried the ball 741 times for 3,855 yards (5.2 ypc) with 47 TD grabs.  He also caught 51 passes for 441 yards (8.6 avg) with 2 TD grabs for Clemson.  This was another good pick by the Cleveland Browns.

The Browns caught another sliding player in Francies who was projected to be selected in the 2nd or 3rd round according to Pro Football Weekly.  He was let go by Oregon State in 2007 after he was arrested for illegal weapons possession.  Still, he has been on his best behavior since that incident.  He is a tad thin at 6′0″, 179 pounds but he’s super fast running a 4.35 40.  Francies played in 26 games (16 starts) in two seasons at San Jose State and Oregon State in which he made 108 tackles, broke up 8 passes, had 4 interceptions (34 yards), forced 4 fumbles and he recovered 1 fumble.  Francies oozes potential and he was an outstandng pick for the Browns.