The Browns are continuing their dialogue with Patriots Vice President Scott Pioli, but Pioli is weighing his options - including staying in New England, a source close to the negotiations told The Plain Dealer.

Pioli is expected to interview with the Kansas City Chiefs sometime over the next couple of days. If he takes himself out of the running in Cleveland , the Browns will focus their attention on fired Jets coach Eric Mangini, a source said.

Meanwhile, Atlanta President Rich McKay can get back into the mix now that the Falcons are out of the playoffs following their wild-card loss to the Cardinals on Saturday. McKay postponed a scheduled interview with the Browns on Thursday so he could focus on the game. He will research the situation before deciding whether to interview with Browns owner Randy Lerner, a source said.

Two other head coaching candidates - fired Broncos coach Mike Shanahan and Titans defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz - are on the backburner for now. Shanahan was contacted by the Browns, but told them he will be on vacation with his family for the next two weeks and will not interview during that time, a source said.

If the Browns haven't hired a coach by then, they might still reach out to him.

The team's scheduled interview with Schwartz on Saturday was canceled because of a scheduling conflict. He also was scheduled to interview with the Lions on Saturday. If the Browns don't interview Schwartz by today, they must wait until Tennessee is eliminated from the playoffs - or until the week before the Super Bowl if the Titans are still playing- to talk to him.

As reported Friday in The Plain Dealer, the Browns were weighing the pros and cons of their top two candidates - Pioli and Mangini - knowing they probably would have to make a choice between the two.

Their research showed that landing the right coach was more imperative than finding the right general manager, a source said.

Pioli would require the authority to hire his own coach, and reportedly favors either Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz or Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, whom the Browns were impressed with in his interview Friday.

Lerner, who's said he'd be "apprehensive" about hiring a college coach, would have to be sold on Ferentz. Likewise, it probably wouldn't be a deal breaker for Pioli if the Browns didn't want to go the college route.

A source close to Pioli said he headed into the Browns interview with serious reservations about the job. Multiple league sources have pointed to the fact the Browns have squandered many draft picks over the past few years - including their third-, fifth- and seventh-round picks in 2009.

Also, the salary cap is headed for trouble because of huge signing bonuses given to free agents over the past several years and the fact a number of player contracts are up after 2009.

One league source said the roster is in bad shape after the reign of fired GM Phil Savage, and that only one current defensive player - Shaun Rogers - would be good enough to start for AFC North rivals Baltimore or Pittsburgh. Another said that neither linebacker Beau Bell nor tight end Martin Rucker, two players the Browns traded up to select in the 2008 draft, will cut it in the NFL.

Mangini, who's been the frontrunner among coaching candidates since he interviewed Tuesday night, told the Browns he had his own general manager in mind, a source said. That person is believed to be his close friend George Kokinis, the Ravens' director of pro personnel.

The Browns feel that a Mangini/Kokinis pairing could be similar to the Bill Belichick
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