Report: Cleveland Browns Might Keep Mike Pettine, Ditch Ray Farmer

In a report on Monday by Jason Cole of Bleacher Report, he says that sources tell him that Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam might end up keeping head coach Mike Pettine as the team's head coach in 2016, while making a change at the general manager position.

"Sources within the Browns organization say they expect that coach Mike Pettine will survive this season, despite the failure of the team," says Cole. "Those sources indicate that the bigger problem within the Browns organization is not Pettine, but is actually general manager Ray Farmer and the selections that Farmer has made throughout his tenure, and even before that when he was under Joe Banner. The problem here is more of a personnel issue, and that is what is going to have to be fixed by Haslam."

It's worth noting that Lane Adkins and his team at the Orange and Brown Report have been reporting this possibility over the past several weeks, adding more merit to the report.

Cole adds that if Haslam decides to let go of Ray Farmer, he expects the Browns to take a look at the top three general manager candidates in the NFL: Chris Ballard of the Kansas City Chiefs, George Paton of the Minnesota Vikings, and Duke Tobin of the Cincinnati Bengals. This news comes less than a day after Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reported that Haslam could be looking to bring in Eliot Wolf and Ron Wolf next season.

Farmer has had several significant sore spots on his resume over the past two years, including the selections of CB Justin Gilbert and OG Cameron Erving, and the signing of WR Dwayne Bowe this past offseason.