Football
Len Pasquarelli 20y

Veteran was among best in free-agent pool

Bolstering one of the league's youngest linebacker corps with a veteran who has been a starter most of his career, the Cleveland Browns on Friday reached a contract agreement with unrestricted free agent Warrick Holdman, ESPN.com has confirmed.

A five-year veteran who had played his entire career in Chicago, Holdman was released earlier this offseason for salary cap reasons, and was one of the best defensive players still available in the free agent pool. Neither the length nor the financial details of the contract were immediately available.

It is not yet known what position Holdman will play for the Browns, whose incumbent starters -- Kevin Bentley, Andra Davis and Ben Taylor -- are all two-year veterans. The Browns were more than satisfied with the performance of the youngsters in 2003, the first season as starters for each of them, but a player of Holdman's talent and accomplishments will be difficult to keep off the field.

The Browns visited with Holdman last month, were said to be close to a deal with him at the time, but negotiations slowed. Holdman then visited with Washington officials and the league consensus was that he would sign with the Redskins. The Browns regained an interest, however, and closed the deal.

Notable is that Holdman is represented by Marvin Demoff, who is also the agent for Browns head coach Butch Davis.

Holdman, 28, appeared in 13 games in 2003 and started all of them, recording 79 tackles. For his career, the former Texas A&M star posted 412 tackles, 3½ sacks, eight forced fumbles, two recoveries, one interception and eight passes defensed.

Chosen in the fourth round of the '99 draft, he has played in 59 games with 47 starts.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.

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