Browns add three on free agency eve

Free agency wasn't supposed to start until Wednesday, but teams were coming to agreements with players left and right even though they couldn't sign them officially.
It's unlikely, but teams or players that have "agreements" could change their mind before the start of free agency.

The Cleveland Browns were no different as they came to agreements with three linemen- two on the offensive line and one on the defensive side of the football.

The Browns signed two players away from division rivals and both will either be key parts of a rotation or start, although I would imagine they are being signed to start.
Tackle Chris Hubbard was signed from the Steelers and will most likely challenge Shon Coleman at right tackle, although he could move to left tackle in the event Joe Thomas announces his retirement in the next few days.
Hubbard's contract with the Browns is worth 37.5 million over five years, which is sizable for a right tackle, but even if the Browns convince Thomas to return, Hubbard could play right tackle for a year or rotate in and out as Hubbard can play tackle or guard.
Hubbard was more of the latter with the Steelers although he did start ten games for Pittsburgh last season.
Todd Haley is a fan of Hubbard and likely played a part both recommending Hubbard as well as a part of Hubbard signing on his part, so that alone speaks well of him, but I also looked up a few Steelers sites and all of those said that the team would miss Hubbard.
One, in particular, wrote that Hubbard played so well in his replacement of injured.suspended Marcus Gilbert that they knew that they were going to lose him because they couldn't afford him after that stretch of play.
When the team that loses a player talks in terms of wishing they could have kept him, you usually are getting a solid player and I think the Browns have done so with Chris Hubbard.

The Browns added another player to the offensive line as they signed Donald Stephenson to a one year deal for 2.5 million.
Stephenson last played for Denver but was very familiar to John Dorsey as he played for the Chiefs during Dorsey's tenure there.
Stephenson is expected to be a backup and will provide depth as a backup.

On the defensive line, the Browns added Chris Smith from the Bengals on a three-year deal worth 14 and a half million.
The 26-year-old Smith spent last season in Cincinnati after spending his first three years with the Jaguars and finished with three sacks as a rotational piece on the Bengals line.
Smith is mainly a defensive end, although he can play defensive tackle in a pinch and played about a third of the snaps in Cincinnati.
Hopefully, at the cost of Smith's contract, that number increases in Cleveland.
The Cincinnati Enquirer writes that Smith began to develop some pass rush ability with the Bengals and noted that the Bengals wanted to keep him, but the Browns extra salary cap space exceeded what the Bengals could afford to pay.

I'm anxious to see what the Browns can pull off today.
They are reported to be in the hunt for Nate Solder of the Patriots to replace Joe Thomas and Terrelle Pryor to return from Washington to boost the receiving corps, but all of the top cornerbacks that the Browns were going after to boost the secondary signed elsewhere, so the Browns might not be able to sign the caliber of corner that they were hoping to ink to a contract.
We'll see more of John Dorsey's plans over the next few days...