BALTIMORE: It remains to be seen whether the Ravens got better or worse during the early stages of NFL free agency, but they clearly became a whole lot less recognizable.
Baltimore's high-profile departures hours after the free agency period commenced at 4 p.m. on Tuesday included.
-WR Torrey Smith (agreed with San Francisco).
-NT Haloti Ngata (traded to Detroit with a 2015 seventh-round draft pick for fourth- and fifth-round selections in the upcoming draft).
-LB Pernell McPhee (agreed with Chicago).
-TE Owen Daniels (agreed with Denver).
The Ravens had 14 unrestricted free agents at the outset of free agency: CB Antoine Cason, LS Morgan Cox, Daniels, RB Justin Forsett, CB Danny Gorrer, DE Lawrence Guy, McPhee, SS Jeromy Miles, OL Will Rackey, OL Jah Reid, CB Aaron Ross, SS Darian Stewart, Smith and QB Tyrod Taylor.
WR/RS Jacoby Jones was released prior to the free agency and landed in San Diego.
K Justin Tucker was offered a second-round tender as a restricted free agent, according to The Baltimore Sun ($2.356 million; Baltimore gets a second-round pick as compensation if Tucker signs an offer sheet that the Ravens decline to match).
CINCINNATI: The Bengals got significant work done to keep their roster intact prior to free agency.
LB Ray Maualuga, K Mike Nugent, OT Eric Winston were signed in advance of the Tuesday deadline. In addition, there are reports G Clint Boling also agreed to terms.
OLB Emmanuel Lamur (restricted free agent) was given a second-round tender (according to Bengals.com).
OL Mike Pollak, DE Robert Geathers and WR Greg Little were released.
That left QB Jason Campbell, TE Jermaine Gresham, S Taylor Mays, CB Terence Newman, RB Cedric Peerman, WR Dane Sanzenbacher, WR Brandon Tate, TE Alex Smith and OT Marshall Newhouse wading into the unrestricted waters. In addition, the Bengals did not offer a tender to restricted free agent Devon Still, making him an unrestricted free agent. They then offered him a one-year contract he is considering.
Former Packers LB A.J. Hawk agreed with the Bengals shortly after the free-agency period began. It's a homecoming for Hawk, who is from nearby Centerville, Ohio, and played his college ball at Ohio State. Hawk had been released after nine seasons in Green Bay prior to free agency.
CLEVELAND: The conversation remains about quarterbacks in Cleveland.
Why wouldn't it?
One of the latest to address the Browns' QB situation, specifically free-agent signee Josh McCown, was WR Brian Hartline, another free-agent signee.
"Anybody that wants to bring in a veteran guy like that and believes in him, if you are a fan of the team why wouldn't you trust the coaching staff and what they are trying to build?" Hartline wondered on a conference call.
The Browns are McCown's seventh NFL team. He played previously for Arizona, Detroit, Oakland, Chicago, Carolina and Tampa Bay.
He was 1-10 as a starter for Tampa Bay last season and is 17-32 for his career as a starter.
S Tashaun Gipson (restricted free agent) received a second-round tender (according to ESPN.com).
QB Brian Hoyer (Houston Texans) and CB Buster Skrine (New York Jets) departed Cleveland via free agency.
TE Jordan Cameron, LB Jabaal Sheard, WR Miles Austin, S Jim Leonhard and DT Ahtyba Rubin were among the Browns initially exposed to unrestricted free agency.
