Golden Nuggets: Browns transition tag Alex Mack to keep him in Cleveland

First-year coach of the Cleveland Browns, Mike Pettine, has determined OL Alex Mack is a must-keep player for his program, using the transition tag on the Cal center.

The Browns have designated Pro Bowl center Alex Mack as their transition player for 2014, meaning they have five days to match any offer for Mack.

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If Mack plays under the tag, he would receive a guaranteed $10.039 million for 2014, the average of the top 10 offensive linemen in the NFL. A team signing the Pro Bowl center would not owe the Browns any compensation.

Before this news broke, Ian Rapaport reported on the new staff's dedication to retain Mack.

How serious are #Browns in keeping C Alex Mack and mending fences from old regime? Team brass met with the player this weekend, I'm told

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 3, 2014

The idea was to get Alex Mack more acquainted with the new front office. Browns source described re-signing him as their No. 1 priority.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 3, 2014

To get an idea of how Mack is viewed as a member of the Browns' offensive line, check out this profile from Dawgs by Nature, SBN's Cleveland Browns site.

Track and Field

• David Torrence set an American record for the indoor 1000m!

Softball

• It took extra innings for Loyola Chicago to beat Cal (7–7)

Baseball

• We're receiving votes!
• The Bears (8–2) were victorious over Baylor and San Diego

Men's Golf

• Your Pac-12 Men's Golfer of the Month: Joël Stalter

Lacrosse

• The Bears (1–1) were able to overcome a five-goal deficit to force overtime against SDSU, but came up short

Women's Basketball

• The no. 18 Bears (21–8, 13–5 Pac-12) enter the Pac-12 Tournament as no. 2 seeds to face WSU/Oregon in the quarterfinals
• The coaches' All-Pac-12 team features Brittany Boyd, Reshanda Gray, Afure Jemerigbe, and Courtney Range

Men's Basketball

• Lunardi thinks the Bears (with an RPI ranking of no. 53) will be a 10th seed in March Madness
• Press conference interviews with Justin Cobbs, Jeff Powers, Richard Solomon, and Coach Montgomery
  
  

Women's Gymnastics

• Although the Golden Bears were defeated by the Stanfurd Cardinal, this is the first year in school history the team has surpassed 196 points in four meets

Rugby

• The no. 2 Golden Bears (12–0) dominated no. 17 Arizona, which couldn't even muster up 10% of Cal's score

Men's Tennis

• The unseeded team Mad Engsted and Filip Bergevi were defeated by an 8 seed in the finals of the Pacific Coast Doubles Championships

Football

• Previewing the Pac-12's spring storylines, including the need to fix Cal's defense
• A draft profile for Richard Rodgers
• Will experience trump the youth of our offensive line? Who will replace last year's starting defensive tackles?
• Athlon Sports' list of the best Pac-12 QBs of the BCS era has only one Cal player, but he's top-five material
• Pacific Takes's list of the best Pac-12 DL of the BCS era has only one Cal player: Andre Carter
• By sending the fourth most players to the NFL, Cal is the "poster child" for pro success despite having a losing record for the past five seasons

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