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Cleveland Browns assistant GM Ray Farmer passed up a promotion with the Dolphins to help the Browns achieve sustained success.

(File photo)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Browns assistant general manager Ray Farmer, viewed as a rising star by his bosses, passed up a chance to become general manager of the Dolphins last month because he's confident the Browns are poised to take off.

"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.''

Farmer, 39, was a finalist for the Dolphins GM job which ultimately went to former Bucs director of player personnel Dennis Hickey. The Dolphins wanted Farmer to interview a second time, and if he did, he likely would've gotten the job. The Miami Herald identified Farmer early on as the frontrunner for the job.

"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.''

Farmer, who joined the Browns in March after seven seasons as the Chiefs director of pro personnel, stressed that the Browns didn't promise him a promotion to stay.

"No, and I would've balked at that,'' he said. "I will never hunt anyone's job that I work with. That's not what I'm inclined to do. I'm not really motivated by money, and I'm not motivated by power. For me, it's more predicated on what can I learn from the people that I'm with to make myself better in the long run.''

Besides, Farmer has developed a close, working with relationship with general manager Mike Lombardi, and would never do anything to jeopardize that.

"I love Mike Lombardi,'' said Farmer. "A lot of people in this city don't, but those people don't know him. He's one of my dearest friends at this point. He's intelligent, he's smart, he's witty, he challenges me every day to be better, so I like where I'm at and I like him. There are no assurances in the NFL and coming off a 4-12 season people are skeptical, people don't understand why some decisions were made inside the building, but again I think inevitably, I trust the process we're going through.''

Browns CEO Joe Banner also said he didn't have to persuade Farmer to stay.

"No, he turned down the job primarily because he's extremely happy here and he's extremely optimistic and he enjoys the people he's working with,'' said Banner. "He'd have to find exactly the right situation because he'd be leaving something that he's very, very happy with.''

Banner re-iterated that the Browns were lucky to keep him.

"We've previously called him a rising star in the league and I still believe that,'' said Banner. "I'm not surprised that other people are recognizing it. He's extremely hard-working, smart, totally trustworthy loyal and a great evaluator. He understands the elements of character, personality and drive (in prospects) and he integrates them into the grading of what you see on the film.''

Farmer said the things that initially drew him to Cleveland are some of the same reasons he stayed.

"First and foremost I'd say that (owner) Jimmy Haslam for me is phenomenal,'' Farmer said. "He's one of the main reasons I chose to come to Cleveland. Joe Banner is a confidante of mine and treats me in a way that a lot of people might've second-guessed. I could go on and on whether it's Alec (Scheiner) our president or Sashi Brown (executive vice president) -- I have so much respect and trust for the people I'm working with and their ability to produce a winning team. Ultimately that's on the horizon and that's why I want to be here.''

Banner said Farmer's decision to stay is consistent with other top employees choosing Cleveland over other destinations -- and is contrary to the national perception of the Browns during the coaching search. NFL Network quoted an anonymous source as saying the Browns job was "radioactive'' and it became the mantra of the search in the national and local media for 25 days.

"The voice of one became the voice that got quoted in every story that was written,'' said Banner. "It had nothing to do with reality. Some of the most desirable people in all of sports have come to Cleveland since Jimmy and I took over, including Rob Chudzinski, Norv Turner, Ray Horton, Mike Pettine, Alec Scheiner and Sashi Brown. Players like Des Bryant and Paul Kruger chose us over other cities, not to mention all of the people that desperately wanted this head coaching job. The evidence -- which nobody wanted to bother with -- is that this is an extremely desirable place and all of the actions by so many people are proof of that.''

Farmer said he ignored the persistent chatter of Berea as a toxic workplace.

"People in Cleveland have their issues with the Browns and some people say rightfully so,'' he said. "Some people would say it's new regime, time to give them a new, clean slate. But I didn't come to Cleveland to re-live the negative history. I came to help write a new chapter. I think that's why a lot of us came here.''

Despite Farmer's star status within the walls of Berea, Banner has no plans to make him a face or voice of the team. Likewise, Lombardi is still being kept off limits.

"I've never seen a sports team have more than one voice other than the head coach that speaks for the organization,'' Banner said. "That's what we do in Cleveland, but somehow that's become controversial. Teams don't put out multiple layers of people and usually the media doesn't want to speak to anybody other than the kind of decision-makers and as high up in the organization as they can get -- so no, Ray won't be any more of a public face than he's been.''

He said the local media calls for Lombardi "because they want to bash Mike. You'd like to think people would rise above that, but it just doesn't happen. I never heard of the media that can speak to the higher level executive or to the lower level executive and they're clamoring to speak to the lower level executive.''

Nevertheless, he said Farmer and Lombardi have a great working relationship and that the personnel department and coaching staff are working hard to prepare for free agency and the upcoming critical draft, one that features the No. 4 and No. 26 overall picks in the first round.

"I feel very good about it and I feel good about the work that's been done the last four months that will be the foundation for us making good choices,'' he said.

Farmer's decision to stay instead of taking the GM job was even supported by the Fritz Pollard Alliance, who's mission is to place minority candidate in high level NFL coaching and personnel jobs. Fritz Pollard Chairman John Wooten, the former Browns guard, helped the Dolphins identify Farmer as a candidate and encouraged him to interview a second time.

"Ray is extremely ready to be a GM in the NFL,'' said Wooten. "But he feels good about what's going in Cleveland, and we're happy that Ray is going to be there to help the Browns get back to being one of the premier teams in the NFL. We would've loved to see him become the GM of the Dolphins and he would've been tremendous, but Ray is a man of character and integrity, and he loves what they're doing there. We respect and support the decision.''