Ray Farmer passed on Dolphins because Browns “to redefine history books”
By Peter Smith
Current Cleveland Browns assistant general manager said he passed on the general manager position with the Miami Dolphins because as he put it, “I think Cleveland is primed and I think we’re in a position to redefine the history books,” Farmer told cleveland.com. “I think change is on the horizon and I didn’t want to miss what’s going to happen in Cleveland.”
Awkward phrasing aside, that is a strong statement and Farmer was not done.
"“I didn’t finish the process,” said Farmer. “I assume they would’ve given me the job. That’s the way it was articulated to me. If I took the job, I would’ve reported directly to (Dolphins owner) Stephen Ross and it was a tremendous opportunity. It still is a dream of mine to become a general manager and run my own program and put together my own team, but it wasn’t the right time for me.“I knew what I had here. I know what I think is going to happen here, and I know what we have in place. So to that degree, the known is better than the unknown.”"
Two things stand out here: First, he believes as many do that the job was his for the taking. Carl Peterson was running the search and Farmer worked for Peterson in Kansas City when Peterson was the general manager for the Chiefs. Second, Farmer passed on the opportunity because of what he believes is going to happen in Cleveland. Since their return in 1999, the Browns have made the playoffs once and had a winning record just twice. To say that he is confident enough to stay in Cleveland because he believes they are going to turn around the franchise is bold.
This is potentially a risky decision on Farmer’s part. While many in the NFL seem to believe he will get a general manager job at some point in his career, the 39 year old Farmer is betting on a franchise that has not shown much life and is part of a front office that fired their first head coach, Rob Chudzinski, after just one season. Meanwhile, the Dolphins hired a general manager that different reports had the Tampa Bay Buccaneers prepped to fire. The Dolphins were better than the Browns last year and could be again this year, which could point to a missed opportunity for Farmer.