CLEVELAND - The Browns moved a step closer to swiping a player from one of their AFC North rivals. Cleveland signed Bengals slot receiver Andrew Hawkins to a contract offer sheet on Thursday, a Browns spokesman said. Cincinnati will have five days — until next Tuesday — to match the reported four-year, $13.6 million deal, which includes a $3.8 million signing bonus, or theyll lose the speedy and elusive Hawkins. The Browns are in the market to fill the slot position after releasing troubled wide receiver Davone Bess last week. The Bengals have not said what they intend to do with Hawkins, who caught just 12 passes last season and missed four games with a high ankle sprain. In 2012, Hawkins had 51 catches for 533 yards and four touchdowns. The 28-year-old Hawkins was in Clevelands rookie minicamp in 2007, but wasnt signed. He played in the Canadian Football League before signing with the Bengals. If he joins the Browns, the 5-foot-7 Hawkins would provide a nice complement for Pro Bowl wide receiver Josh Gordon and another option for quarterback Brian Hoyer, who at this point is the favourite to begin next season as Clevelands starter. As they await Cincinnatis decision on Hawkins, the Browns are exploring other options and are believed to have interest in New Englands Julian Edelman, a free agent who caught 105 passes last season as Tom Bradys primary target. Edelman took over the role once held by Wes Welker and finished with 1,056 yards receiving and six touchdowns. The former Kent State quarterback also handled punt return duties for the Patriots. He has another local connection because he was a teammate on the Patriots with Hoyer, who backed up Brady for three seasons. On Thursday night, the Browns hosted Houston free agent running back Ben Tate, who could fill a major hole for Cleveland. Tate was supposed to meet with the team on Wednesday but his visit had to be postponed because of a severe winter storm. Tate rushed for 771 yards and four touchdowns last season, his third with the Texans. He has been on Clevelands radar for months, starting soon after the club traded Trent Richardson to Indianapolis for a first-round draft pick. Tate has averaged 4.7 yards per carry and hes rushed for 1,992 yards and 10 TDs. The Browns didnt adequately replace Richardson and their rushing game was almost nonexistent. Earlier in the day, the Browns signed tight end Jim Dray to a three-year, $5.62 million contract, with $2.25 million in the first season. The 6-foot-5, 255-pounder spent the past four seasons with the Arizona Cardinals, setting career highs with 26 catches for 215 yards and two touchdowns last season. Primarily a blocker, Dray gives the Browns depth at tight end behind Pro Bowl Jordan Cameron and Gary Barnidge. Dray was impressed that the Browns showed early interest in him. "Just hearing from my agent that the Browns were pretty aggressive from the start of free agency," said Dray, drafted out of Stanford in the seventh round in 2010. "I thought that theyd be a great fit for me, so the feeling was mutual and Im really excited to be here. Ive been watching (offensive co-ordinator) coach (Kyle) Shanahans offence for Washington the past couple years, and the way they used their tight ends seemed like a good fit." The Browns also are waiting for what happens with Pro Bowl centre Alex Mack. They placed their transition tag — worth $10.039 million for one year — on him last week and will have five days to match any offer if he signs with another team. Mack has until July 22 to sign his transition tag and its possible his situation could drag on. Air Max 97 Shanghai Kaleidoscope . New York secured second place in the Metropolitan Division when the Philadelphia Flyers lost at Tampa Bay later Thursday. The Rangers will face either the Flyers or Columbus in the opening round of the post-season. The Rangers struggled throughout against the lowly Sabres and goalie Matt Hackett, who played in just his seventh NHL game of the season. Air Max 97 Plus Cheap .com) - The Toronto Blue Jays will look to snap a three-game skid Friday night when they continue their road trip in the opener of a three-game set against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. http://www.outletairmax97.com/mens-nike-...ah8144-600.html. David Perron had a career high four-point night with two goals and two assists as the Oilers experienced an offensive explosion, blasting the Columbus Blue Jackets 7-0 to record a rare home win for their second victory in a row. Air Max 97 Undefeated For Sale . They kicked off the still-going trend of host cities winning the Grey Cup and sent Hall of Fame head coach Wally Buono to the front office a champion. Air Max 97 Plus Black Shock Orange .com) - The Vancouver Canucks will try to win two straight games for the first time since mid-January on Monday night as they play host to the struggling New York Islanders. OTTAWA -- There has been very little room for error for the Ottawa Senators over the past couple of weeks, but now, there is none. Josh Bailey had a goal and an assist as the New York Islanders earned a 2-1 win over Ottawa Wednesday, leaving the Senators five points out of a playoff spot with just five games to play and four teams ahead of them. "We knew they were a desperate team and we knew it was going to be a tough game." Bailey said. "They came at us pretty hard." Bailey scored a power-play goal in the first period, and assisted on the winning goal from Casey Cizikas midway through the third, when he outwaited Senators goaltender Craig Anderson and slid the puck into the crease from behind the goal-line for Cizikas. The win was the third straight and fifth in six games for the Islanders (31-35-10), who were helped by a 35-save performance from rookie Anders Nilsson. Ryan Strome chipped in with two assists. Milan Michalek scored the lone goal for the Senators (32-30-14), on the power play 6:41 into the third period to tie the game 1-1. That goal game exactly 110 minutes after the last Senators goal, with the exception of a shoot-out goal in Mondays 2-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Michalek was at the side of the Islanders goal when he jammed a loose puck past Nilsson with four bodies lying in the crease. "I thought I had a glove on it but its tough. It was so fast and it was tough for me to know and tough for the ref to see," Nilsson said of the goal. "Those goals happen. They did a good job crashing the net and the puck came loose so credit to them. "We battled hard and everyone stuck up for each other. Everybody is doing a hell of a job and battling hard and thats why we keep on winning." The loss snapped a three game winning streak for the Senators. They had also recorded points in five straight games going into Wednesday. "We didnt score goals and youre not going to win hockey games when you dont score goals," Senators defenceman Marc Methot said. "Its deflating, for sure. Itts funny because I thought we played pretty good hockey.dddddddddddd We just couldnt bury it when we had opportunities and it sucks in terms of the atmosphere in the room. We were riding a pretty nice high despite our situation in the standings. "When youre stringing together wins at any point in the season it feels good so were going to keep rolling and keep trying to get wins." Bailey had the only goal through 40 minutes of play, beating Anderson with a snap shot from the face-off circle 17 minutes into the first period. "We played a really solid game five-on-five and the difference was special teams," said Anderson, who finished with 25 saves. "Thats the way this game is and some nights, youre going to generate lots of opportunities on the power play and some nights youre not. That was the difference-maker tonight." The Senators had managed to kill off a 34 second five-on-three disadvantage but were unable to escape the back end of the two penalties unscathed. It wasnt the only opportunity on special teams for the Islanders, either. Cal Clutterbuck was unable to cash in on three short-handed opportunities. Clutterbuck was stopped by Anderson on a short-handed breakaway early in the first period, and later in the period, with an open net to shoot at, he slid the puck through the crease and along the goal-line. Clutterbuck had another short-handed breakaway, this time in the dying seconds of the third period, but his shot sailed over the Ottawa net. Notes: Defenceman Jared Cowen and forwards Bobby Ryan, Jason Spezza and Colin Greening are all injured and did not play Wednesday for the Senators. Defencemen Radek Martinek, Lubomir Vishnovsky and Brian Strait and forwards Kyle Okposo, Eric Boulton and Michael Grabner did not play for the Islanders a The Senators have not won five straight this season a The Senators close out a five-game homestand Friday when the host the Montreal Canadiens a The Islanders are 13-4-2 in their past 20 road games a Wednesday was the 400th game of Baileys career. ' ' '