Gerald McCoy to visit the Browns Friday

According to Mike Garofolo and Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, free agent defensive tackle Gerald McCoy will be visiting the Cleveland first among teams vying for his services, be in town in the next day or so.

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The Gerald McCoy sweep stakes is heating up as McCoy is starting his tour to find his next team and the Cleveland Browns are getting the first crack.

Free agent DT Gerald McCoy has told interested teams he will visit the #Browns first, sources tell me and @RapSheet. Visit to happen in the next day. Among the other interested teams in the former #Buccaneers lineman are the #Panthers and #Bengals.

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) May 23, 2019

At almost the same moment this report came out, general manager John Dorsey, from the event announcing the city of Cleveland hosting the 2021 NFL Draft, not only confirmed the report, but said McCoy would be here Friday.

#Browns GM John Dorsey said free-agent DT Gerald McCoy will visit the team tomorrow

— Nate Ulrich (@ByNateUlrich) May 23, 2019

The natural reaction to this is the Browns have a leg up in the competition because he's going to visit them first. And since they have what he seems to want, including the ability to pay him, the ability to compete and a scheme that fits him, there's a real chance that they could get this deal done.

It appears as though McCoy doesn't want to wait too long to make his decision on where he wants to sign and that's likely due to the fact that Ndamukong Suh signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which only helps his bargaining position.

Buccaneers officially have reached agreement with former Rams’ DT Ndamukong Suh on a one-year, $9.25 million deal that with incentives is worth up to $10 million, per source.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 23, 2019

McCoy and his agent can certainly use that to guarantee themselves a similar figure, especially since McCoy is likely to sign for more than one year and at this point, is simply a better player than Suh.

McCoy signing is a dream scenario for the Browns as he'd immediately be their best defensive tackle and a nightmare for the rest of the AFC North and potentially the NFL as a whole.