Roger Goodell voices support for Browns owner Jimmy Haslam

The Cleveland Browns have had a rough start to the offseason, with Josh Gordon suspended for a year and Johnny Manziel entering rehab. 

Cleveland's two first-round selections from the 2014 NFL Draft, Manziel and cornerback Justin Gilbert made little progress in their first professional campaigns and the team appears to be in a state of disarray. 

Browns owner Jimmy Haslam's regime hasn't been promising, but he's won over an important supporter: NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

Goodell voiced his opinion Wednesday about Haslam at the Canton Memorial Civic Center. 

"I'm a big fan of Jimmy Haslam and what he's doing," Goodell said, ESPN's Pat McManamon reports. "As you know, there are very few quick fixes in this business, and the league is so competitive and you really have to build a foundation and I think Jimmy is doing that."

Cleveland appeared to be making a serious playoff run but imploded down the stretch, losing its final five games amid a quarterback controversy that saw incumbent starter Brian Hoyer ousted in favour of Manziel. The Browns finished 7-9.

"If it was easy, anybody could do it," Goodell said. "These are 32 very competitive teams that are working in a very competitive league. He's learned a great deal. He's, I think, making very smart decisions for the long term."

Haslam bought the Browns in 2012 and fired Rob Chudzinski after Cleveland went 4-12 in his first season with the club. 

The Browns owner also ran into trouble for non-football related reasons. Haslam's company Pilot Flying J paid $92 million to the U.S. federal government for rebate fraud and $85 million in restitution to close lawsuits against the truck stop business. 

Goodell's comments could be interpreted as hollow support for one of the NFL's 32 owners or a genuine belief in the Browns' potential to become a contender under Haslam's watch. With free agency on the horizon, it'll be interesting to see whether the Browns make major improvements in hopes of reaching the playoffs for the first time since 2002.