Gerald McCoy’s free agency tour started with the Browns.

BEREA Dexter Williams Jersey , Ohio (AP) — They believe it will end with them, too.Coach Freddie Kitchens said Thursday that he’s optimistic McCoy will sign with Cleveland, which appears to be in a three-time battle with Baltimore and Carolina to land the six-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle.Recently released by Tampa Bay after nine seasons in a cost-cutting move, McCoy visited the Browns last week and met with the Ravens on Wednesday. He’s reportedly scheduled a meeting with the Panthers as well.Kitchens said the team’s meeting with McCoy “went as good as it could.” The Browns even encouraged him to speak with other teams.“We want Gerald to go out and look at other places because when he makes the commitment here, we want him to be all-in because everybody that’s going to be here is gonna be all-in and that’s what we need to get to where we’re going,” Kitchens said after practice. “So we’re fine with him taking a look at everybody else, all right? Because we’ve told him who we were and if that’s who he wants, he’ll end up here and he knows the direction we’re headed.”The 31-year-old McCoy would like to join a Super Bowl contender, and the Browns have dramatically improved their roster this offseason with the additions of wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson Max Scharping Jersey , edge rusher Olivier Vernon and running back Kareem Hunt.If the Browns sign McCoy, they would be just the fifth team since 1970 to have four current or former Pro Bowlers on their defensive front. McCoy joining forces with Vernon, Richardson and Myles Garrett, who had 13½ sacks last season despite facing constant double-teams, would give offenses a lot to worry about.Add in tackle Larry Ogunjobi, who has shown major potential in just two seasons, and the Browns are even more dangerous.McCoy was released on May 20 by the Buccaneers, who didn’t want to pay him $13 million next season. The Browns already have big money invested into their defensive line (Richardson got a three-year, $37 million deal with $21 million guaranteed) and they’ll have to address Garrett’s future at some point.Finances don’t seem to be a concern.“We’re trying to sign him,” Kitchens said.McCoy has 54½ sacks in 123 NFL games http://www.texansauthorizedshops.com/authentic-kahale-warring-jersey , but Kitchens likes his other intangibles.“He’s been in the league a long time. He’s played 10 years. He’s been to the fire. He would offer all those things,” Kitchens said. “We’re still young up front. In a lot of areas even with the guys we signed this year, we’re still young — relatively speaking. You know leadership is being able to go out and do something and let somebody see you do it, and leadership it can also be directing you off the field, on the field and everything else. There are a lot of different aspects of leadership and we’re going to try to create more than just one leader.”Kitchens said he and McCoy didn’t speak specifically about his role with the team.“He knows he’s going to be playing,” Kitchens said. “I know the more good football players you have the better you are, the better your rotation is, the better you can get after a quarterback in the two-minute drive.” Deshaun Watson threw for 210 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a third as the Houston Texans set a franchise record with their eighth straight win, 34-17 over the Tennessee Titans on Monday night.Demaryius Thomas scored his first two touchdowns as a Texan and Lamar Miller ran for 162 yards, including a 97-yard TD.In the first game since founder and owner Robert “Bob” McNair died on Friday Cullen Gillaspia Jersey , the Texans (8-3) honored him by wearing decals on the back of their helmets in the shape of a football with white block letters bearing his initials of “RCM.”With that reminder on their helmets, they became the first team in NFL history to win eight games in a row after starting 0-3. They lead Indianapolis by two games in the AFC South.The Texans trailed by 10 early before reeling off 27 straight points. Tennessee (5-6) finally scored again on a 48-yard reception by Corey Davis late in the third quarter, but the second TD by Thomas — this one for 10 yards — made it 34-17 with just more than eight minutes left.Marcus Mariota, who missed the second half of last week’s game after suffering a stinger, was 22 of 23 for 303 yards and two touchdowns. He completed his first 19 passes before an incompletion with just more than a minute remaining.Miller’s 97-yard breakaway in the second quarter made it 21-10. It was the longest run in franchise history and the longest run in the NFL since his dash of the same length for a touchdown on Dec. 28, 2014, while with the Dolphins. He’s now the only player in league history with two career rushing touchdowns of 95 yards or longer.The Titans went ahead 3-0 on their first possession, and Jonnu Smith had a career-long 61-yard catch-and-run touchdown that extended their lead less than halfway through the first quarter.Houston got going after that, cutting the lead to 10-7 when Thomas grabbed his first touchdown since being traded from Denver on Oct. 30, a 12-yard grab with about six minutes left in the quarter.Watson put the Texans on top when he scrambled 15 yards for a score on the first play of the second quarter.The Titans went for it on fourth-and-inches from the 3 later in the second Tytus Howard Jersey , but tight end Luke Stocker was stopped for no gain.Miller’s long TD, which helped Houston set a franchise record with 281 yards rushing, came on the next play. He took the handoff in the end zone and darted through a crowd of Titans before shedding one tackle and simply outrunning the rest of the defense.The Texans kicked a field goal as time expired in the second quarter to take a 24-10 lead into halftime.MCNAIR REMEMBEREDThe Texans honored McNair in a pregame ceremony, which included a video tribute to him while the Texas A&M Singing Cadets sang “Amazing Grace.” While the video was played, one side of the video board displayed the words: “Faith, Family, Philanthropy, Football.”Painted on both 25-yard lines was a football with his initials that looked just like the decals on the players’ helmets.Television cameras panned to several fans with signs honoring the late owner with one that read: “McNair Never Forgotten.”INJURIESTitans cornerback Malcolm Butler left in the second quarter to be evaluated for a concussion and did not return. … Houston WR Keke Coutee didn’t return after injuring his hamstring in the third quarter.UP NEXTTitans: Host the New York Jets on Sunday.Texans: Host the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.