The second-leading receiver in NFL history is suddenly not only a man without a team but also a man without any immediate employment prospects.

Cleveland Browns officials have apprised Cris Carter and agent Mitch Frankel that they no longer are interested in signing the 15-year veteran and have ceased contract negotiations. The team has no plans, a Browns source said, to revisit talks with Carter, who voided his contract with Minnesota earlier this month to become an unrestricted free agent.

"We are moving on," team president Carmen Policy said. "There are other areas of our team that we will address. We made an effort (with Carter) and it didn't result in an agreement. We wish him well as he proceeds in free agency."

Carter met Tuesday with team officials and thought the team was prepared to offer him a deal worth $4 million annually. At that point, he phoned St. Louis coach Mike Martz to cancel his scheduled meeting with the Rams later that evening.

He misinterpreted the Cleveland offer, however, which was actually a two-year proposal for $4 million total, and including a signing bonus of $1 million. But when Carter realized his error and phoned Martz to request a later meeting, the Rams coach declined.

Martz has said publicly that he might reconsider the Carter situation later this month, but he is privately telling Rams officials he has no plans now to sign the veteran wide receiver. St. Louis will almost certainly re-sign unrestricted free agent Ricky Proehl, could make a contract offer to former Tampa Bay starter Jacquez Green and might draft a wideout as well.

In interviews over the past two days, Carter has attempted to explain his faux pas, but placed some of the blame on the Browns, because he said they were running late in their scheduled meeting with him. He noted there "are no comparisons" between the Rams and the Browns and that comment did not sit well with Cleveland officials.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.