The Cleveland Browns already whiffed on one of their biggest free-agent targets of the summer earlier this year. Is the team poised to make up for that miss in the coming days?

Mike Daniels, who was with the Green Bay Packers until yesterday is starting to hear from quite a few teams. Among those who are reportedly the most interested are indeed the Browns.

The team is enough of a player for his services that it appears they will be the first franchise to get an official visit from the defensive tackle as he goes through the process of selecting his next home.

No sure thing for Cleveland Browns

It's important to note that being the first on the list, as Adam Schefter has reported, does not make the Browns' the obvious choice for Daniels. Gerald McCoy took a visit to the Browns fairly early in his process of choosing his team this year as well. In the end, he went with the Carolina Panthers.

John Dorsey is someone who is quite familiar with Daniels and for that reasons, some believe he might have the inside track. On the other hand, when the other teams that are reportedly in the running for a player are the two teams that competed in the AFC Championship a year ago, the competition is stiff.

Both the Kansas City Chiefs and the New England Patriots have been mentioned by NFL.com's Mike Garafolo as potential suitors for Daniels.

Mark Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com also reported this morning that while he is going to be taking his first visit to see the Cleveland Browns, there is no indication that he will be pulling the trigger on a decision today.

Time is of the essence

Camps all around the NFL are set to open in the next few days or, otherwise, they have already kicked off.

The timing of Mike Daniels' release has raised some eyebrows for that very reason. More than a few people have commented that it was odd for the Green Bay Packers to release Daniels so late in the offseason.

It appears one of the reasons the timing came as it did, is because the team had some irons in the fire when it came to potential trades.

Those trade talks apparently collapsed. That situation is remarkably similar to what happened earlier this year with McCoy. The Tampa Bay Bucs had been trying to find a trade partner but weren't finding a deal.

When he was cut, the Browns tried to get him for nothing but a new contract. For whatever reason, he felt more at home with the Panthers. It's possible he just wanted to stay in the conference and region he knew best.

As the leading teams for Daniels services are in the AFC, it doesn't appear the Cleveland Browns will run into that particular roadblock. Now it's up to John Dorsey to make his pitch and show the defensive tackle why he should pick them over two teams who are reloading instead of rebuilding.
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