Joe Thomas still has some good years left, and he’d certainly love to spend them playing for an NFL contender.
Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports, in Florida for league meetings, believes the Cleveland Browns will likely be exploring trade options for Thomas this week. He also reports the All-Pro offensive tackle would certainly not be adverse to such an arrangement.
Starting by saying Thomas would never demand a trade, much less request one, La Canfora reports he’d “absolutely be welcome to the idea” of being traded to a competitive team with championship capabilities.
“Cleveland is in the midst of yet another complete rebuild and they will quite likely be doing so with a rookie quarterback,” La Canfora writes. “The prospects of the Browns coming close to contending during the remainder of Thomas’s career are bleak even by their standards.”
Nice dig there at the end.
Indeed, the Browns continue to be a factory of sadness, something even Siri can attest to these days. After reportedly scaring away free agents and losing all four of their own top free agents the past couple of weeks, it sure seems like we’re dealing with the same old Browns.
Of course, maybe in 10 years we’ll all look back at what Sashi Brown and Paul Podesta are doing and nod our heads in understanding as their grand Moneyball plan proves us wrong. But right now? It looks bad in Brownsville, even by their standards.
No doubt Thomas is an attractive trade piece, so if the Browns do intend on going full nuclear on their roster this offseason they’ll find some suitors.
At the age of 32, he’s entering the fifth year of a very manageable seven-year contract. Set to earn base salaries of $8.3, $8.8 and $8.8 million the next three years (with no dead cash after this year), he’ll be quite the bargain considering the gaudy contracts being doled out to offensive linemen these days.
One of the top offensive tackles annually, it would be mutually beneficial for a contending team to bring him over to finish out his career in style.