Cleveland Browns general manager Ray Farmer has revealed that he has enjoyed the off-season discussions regarding trades and signings with head coach Mike Pettine.

Farmer said that his understanding with Pettine, who joined the club at the end of the 2013 season, was important in order to make the right decisions for the club going forward.

"I think we both realised as we ping-ponged back and forth giving our answers that we were brothers from a different mother," Pettine told the club's official website. "It's the same core beliefs, football-wise.

"To sit down with him, and to naturally have so many similarities to me, that was the best thing. Because now I know there's a guy, that we believe the same philosophy. We think about the game of football the same way. And it's easy to be in lock step."

The Browns finished fourth in the AFC North with a 4-12 record last season.