Browns fire general manager Ray Farmer

Brown will join owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam and Jed Hughes of the worldwide consulting firm Korn Ferry in the search, which has commenced immediately following Sunday’s removal of Mike Pettine from the position.

Unlike the Browns, the 49ers elected to keep Trent Baalke as general manager.

“We greatly appreciate Ray and Mike’s dedication and hard work while with the Cleveland Browns”, Haslam said.

Haslam would not speculate on Manziel’s future with the team, deferring any decision to his next coach and GM.

“We are all disappointed with where we are and clearly understand your frustrations”. “As I’ve told you, we expect a lot out of players on the field, and I’ll just leave it at that”. We will see if any coaches want to line up to work for a leadership team that is reportedly poised to take control including Alec Scheiner and Sashi Brown.

The Steelers took a long time to put Pettine and the Browns out of their misery Sunday, leading only 17-12 until quarterback Ben Roethlisberger found receiver Markus Wheaton for an 8-yard touchdown with 10:43 left. The Browns went 10-22 in Pettine’s two years. The Browns also fired general manager Ray Farmer, though owner Jimmy Haslam said Sunday night that they will hire a new head coach before a new general manager.

Farmer was suspended for the first four games of this season for illegally texting coaches during games last season.

There is some speculation that the Browns might go after Chip Kelly to be their next head coach after he was sacked by the Philadelphia Eagles on Tuesday.

He spent 73 days in a rehab facility during the offseason, got benched by Pettine for two games during the year for misbehavior and missed Sunday’s game with a concussion.

The Steelers sacked the Browns’ Austin Davis, starting in place of Johnny Manziel, seven times.

That held true when the Browns announced that they had fired head coach Mike Pettine. With Farmer and Pettine gone, we have to wonder if troubled quarterback Johnny Manziel is next.

“I assumed there was a fight or a Steelers fan was beating up a Browns fan”, he said with a laugh. “You’re paid to win games and losing 18 of 21 is not acceptable”. The Browns haven’t been to the playoffs since 2002, and have undergone five changes to their coach and GM since 2008. Haslam met with Pettine later in the evening. Manziel has shown some progress in his two seasons, but continues to be a distraction. When Manziel failed to report, the Browns reportedly tried to contact Manziel by phone and couldn’t reach him.