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Ben Tate is a player the Browns are interested in to help their running game, which struggled last season.

(AP)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Free agent running back Ben Tate, formerly of the Texans, is in Cleveland meeting with the Browns Thursday night, a league source told cleveland.com Thursday evening.

If all goes as expected, the Browns could soon sign Tate, who's averaged 4.7 yards per carry in his three seasons. The club later confirmed that Tate was in Cleveland.

The Browns are looking for a featured back to bolster their running game, which finished tied for 27th in the NFL last year. They contemplated trading for Tate, 25, last season, but opted to wait for him to become a free agent instead.

Tate (5-11, 217) is a former second-round pick out of Auburn in 2010.

In 2013, he appeared in 14 games with seven starts after a season-ending injury to Arian Foster. He responded with 771 yards rushing and four touchdowns despite battling cracked ribs for much of the season. He was ultimately placed on injured reserve Dec. 19th.

The Browns haven't had a featured back since they traded Trent Richardson after the first two games of last season.

"I think I can bring you an elite running back," Tate told Fox 26 in Houston on Friday. "I've learned a lot being behind Arian (Foster). Definitely, when I'm healthy I think I'm an elite running back in this league, and I feel like I can show my abilities and my numbers and my play will speak for itself, and guys will be able to see that I am a guy who is a top-five running back in this league, which I believe once I get out there and get to show that on a consistent basis."

Tate also wrote in a Facebook post Friday, "I'm tired of people acting like RBs aren't really that important anymore.''

After sitting out his rookie year in 2010 with a broken ankle, Tate has rushed for 1,992 yards on 421 carries and 10 touchdowns in his three seasons.

“I’m excited about the opportunity,” Tate told the Houston Chronicle about becoming a free agent. “I’m starting to feel rejuvenated.”

He said he's recovered from the rib injury that plagued him much of last season.

“My ribs are fine,” he told the Chronicle. “Sometimes, it was tough (to play with the injury), but not playing is not what I signed up for. It’s not my personality to be out if I can play.”