Report: Ray Farmer the ‘most impressive’ GM candidate thus far
As we told you earlier today, the Dolphins have finished interviewing 5 candidates for their open General Manager position. Thus far, the Dolphins have interviewed Ray Farmer (Browns), Jason Licht (Cardinals), Omar Kahn (Steelers), Lake Dawson (Titans), and Brian Gaine (Dolphins). The interviews will continue this week, but the Dolphins do not confirm who has interviewed until after the interview has been completed. So this list will update daily.
According to Armando Salguero, his sources are telling him that Ray Farmer has been the ‘most impressive’ candidate thus far. This is on the heels of Armando saying that his conversations, with people in the organization, lead him to believe that Farmer is the frontrunner for the position. It is believed that the Dolphins will finish their first round of interviews and then bring back their top two choices for a second round.
That Dolphins have been given permission to interview Tom Gamble, another strong candidate, who currently works in the Eagles organization. If all goes well my prediction would be that Farmer and Gamble are the 2 finalists….in which case I’ll be happy because I would be content with either as the Dolphins next General Manager.
So who is Ray Farmer? Farmer spent time in the early 00’s as a scout for the Falcons. He then moved over to the Kansas City Chiefs from 2006-2012. Who hired him? Carl Peterson…the same man who is advising Stephen Ross on this GM search. Farmer’s current position is as assistant GM to Michael Lombardi in Cleveland with the Browns. It’s always difficult to tell exactly how much of a role someone like Farmer had in the draft or free agent signings. BUT, if you read about what NFL executives think of him, you’ll be impressed.
Here are a few votes of confidence for Farmer, from Browns’ executives, per the Miami Herald:
“Browns CEO Joe Banner described Farmer as “one of the up-and-coming stars in the NFL,” last September.
“I’ll be surprised if Ray’s not a GM in the next few years, which will be good and bad news for us,” Browns owner Jimmy Haslem said during the 2013 NFL owner’s meetings, according to the Akron Beacon Journal.”
As for Gamble, my other favorite in this search, he spent time helping to build 3 different teams to reach 11 total postseasons. That’s a good track record. He was part of a front office that build playoff teams in Indianapolis (5), Philadelphia (4), and San Francisco (2). Again, that’s impressive because the places he’s been, have built playoff teams.
We’ll continue to monitor any new developments and will keep you posted. The Sun Sentinel suggested today that the GM should be in place by the end of this months, which makes sense considering how busy this time of year is for General Managers. Stay Tuned…….