Andrew Wiggins and sports analytics debates: While We’re Waiting
December 8, 2016Revisiting the 10 bold predictions of the 2016 Browns season
December 8, 2016If it is a day of the week that ends in “y”, Cleveland Browns left tackle Joe Thomas has been involved in trade rumors, the latest of which came in late October. Whether they are true or not, the team has continued to shut the rumors down, both during the season and continuously during the most recent off-season.
This time around, head coach Hue Jackson came out and was straight up, saying that as long as he is in Cleveland, his left tackle will be as well, no matter what rumors are out there.
Here’s the quote via cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot.
“That’s not happening or I’m going with him, okay? I guarantee you that. I’m going with him. No, Joe Thomas means too much to this organization and to this football team. As I said to everybody, I want us to do right by him. Right by that is let’s go get this man some wins. He deserves that.”
If the front office were to try to trade No. 73, Jackson would have willingly put his foot down, not only in angst but also in attempt to stop the trade from happening. He knows what Thomas means to not only the team, but the city as well, along with how important he is to the first-year head coach of a team in desperate need to find a quarterback for the long-term future.
“Let me say this, there was never any talk about Joe Thomas leaving here (this year). If there were, I would have done that. There’s no question. Joe Thomas means a lot to me personally and a lot to this organization and this team and this city. He’s done too much, and we need to keep him here.”
Named a Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee for his excellence both on and off the field, Thomas has played 9,684 consecutive snaps. While protecting 18 (!) quarterbacks’ blindsides, he hasn’t missed a single snap since being drafted by the Browns in 2007. ESPN.com’s Elizabeth Merrill did a great job showing just how incredible this feat is within a story published on Wednesday.
Why would the Browns trade a future Hall of Famer who has never missed a snap, you ask? They aren’t going to be playoff contenders for at least another year. At 32, it’s possible that the Browns may not be legitimate contenders before Thomas retires—if at all. So, why not trade him when he still has at least some value, right? The guy deserves to be on a playoff contender, let alone a team that can compete for a Super Bowl. Jackson realizes that and admitted that the Browns could (somehow) be that team sooner rather than later.
“He deserves to be on a winning football team and have a chance to chase playoffs and championships. That’s why you’re here. I do a lot of this for the players. That’s what it is all about. It’s those guys in the locker room because they work extremely hard. We have to get this thing right for those guys because it’s truly what it is about – our fans, our organization – but those players, they give a lot and we have to give it back to them.”
Jackson knows just how much the nine-time Pro Bowler wants to be in a consistent winner and so does the head coach himself. While becoming close with his left tackle, Jackson admitted that he is going to do everything he can to bring a winning football team to Cleveland, not only for the Dawg Pound, but for Thomas himself.
“I knew how good of a football player he was, but I didn’t know how good of a person he is, as a pro and leader he is in the locker room. I think it’s important to him. There’s not another person in this organization that wants to make this right more than Joe Thomas. The guy has played here for 10 years. I’m disappointed for him in the records that he’s had. I’m a part of that with him. Trust me, I’m going to do everything I can to change that. This guy deserves an opportunity to win. He does for what he means to this organization, to this football team and football. He is one of the best I’ve ever been around.”
With the team on the shores of Lake Erie in rebuilding mode for what seems like the 18th consecutive season since 1999, Thomas, for some reason, wants to be part of the Browns’ rebuild—again. He may not be happy with the team cutting much of their young talent this past off-season, which has led to the Browns offensive line struggling immensely, but even with the revolving door of coaches (six), front office (seven general managers), and teammates that he has seen throughout his 10-year career so far, Thomas continues to do well on the field, like a true veteran.
Now that we know that the only way the 6-foot-7, 311-pound left tackle will leave is if Jackson leaves as well, how does No. 73 feel about staying with the Browns? Like a true professional and as he has when every rumor has surfaced, he reiterated that he not only wants to remain a Brown, but also loves his head coach.
“From the moment that Hue got here, him and I have had a close relationship and it’s built on trust and honesty and we both like how the other person operates and how they do their business. I’ve been an admirer of Hue since his days in Oakland even and then when we’d play them twice a year with Cincinnati, I always really respected him as a coach and I enjoyed talking with him after games. Since he’s been here I have really even had another level of respect for the way he has handled this difficult season and kind of the difficult cards that he’s been dealt. I don’t think there’s many coaches in the NFL – in all of NFL history – that would have been able to handle this situation as well as he has and he’s just been so outstanding and he means so much to this team and to these players right now and I think we all feel very fortunate that he’s our head coach.”
A Jackson-Thomas package deal? Interesting.
47 Comments
https://media.giphy.com/media/l3fQf1OEAq0iri9RC/giphy.gif
Those nerds better not trade him.
Sources say that the Browns are in negotiations for the trade of Thomas and Jackson in a package deal.
Hue Jackson is my spirit animal. Anytime the subject of JoeT being traded comes up we both do this:
http://www.thecoli.com/media/hue-jackson-facepalm.3198/full
They also better not keep him just for sentimentality if a no-brainer winning deal is offered.
Re-sign him as an OL coach after he retires.
The HBT knows nothing of this “sentimentality” thing of which you speak.
“That’s not happening or I’m going with him, okay? I guarantee you that. I’m going with him”
Translation: PLEASE OH DEAR GOD TRADE JOE THOMAS SO I CAN GO WITH HIM.
Sure. But when he’s done playing football, I think he might be done. Too much hunting and fishing to do. Nothing about him really seems to indicate “coach.”
I love JT and don’t actually want to see him go, but the Browns are in a unique situation, being a very bad team trying hard to get better with exactly one bona fide star (and Hall of Famer). This makes them perfectly ripe for a desperate team trying to win a championship in a closing window to make a crazy offer the Browns can’t refuse. I don’t think it will happen, but it could. I just hope the HBT won’t turn down such a crazy offer just because . . . feelings. But as you say, they may not be capable of such things like “emotion.”
I think JoeT does a full-time gig on the Travel Channel going around to all the best fishing holes in the World.
Joe Thomas gets the first snap at LT when the Browns make the Super Bowl. I don’t care how old he is when it happens.
What if they have to wheel out his ashes?
Run with 10 men on that play and take a knee
That would mean being followed by cameras and controlled by directors. I think he takes the quiet life.
Just like Bernie got the last snap in the Superbowl he was in. How many QBs have knelt to win a Superbowl? Kosar will always have that.
The Browns tried to throw in Sashi but the Browns were not willing to add the required cash considerations to make it happen.
Maybe – whatever he does, he will be able to visit his bust in Canton
Without a doubt. First ballot.
His urn would still block better than Care Bear…
That’s why Saturdaw is my favorite day of the week – no JT rumors.
Yeah, and that’s why my favorite day is Frydaw . . . oh wait, dammit!
I just hope they declare it an “urn eligible” play, with the QB chucking the ball at the urn, causing the ashes to spill onto the field, thus becoming a part of the field and creating an instant “Joe Thomas Memorial Field.”
What are we talking about again? I just confused myself.
Big fan of Wednesdaw.
Still plays – doesn’t END in “y”
**Hue runs out of Berea offices chasing Joe to his car***
“Joe! Joe! Joe! JT! Hey, phew, you’re faster than I thought. About that whole trade thing… I scratch your back…”
https://media.giphy.com/media/vYqeVRZVpzN0A/giphy.gif
“Saturdaw”
Spoken like a cajun Saints fan…
Wes sir, it’s Hump Daw.
Time for another irrational Joe Thomas hot take: what does it mean to be the leader of an oft-dysfunctional locker room that has gone through six head coaches while posting a record of 47-109?
Hey now, I know some Cajun and that ‘t’ would be a bit troublesome. Can we go w/ “Sauerdaw” ??
And, going by the ever wonderful Creole dictionary, it should be Sanmdi
It means that you have been misidentified as a “leader.”
depends when you stop reading
http://s3.amazonaws.com/etntmedia/media/images/ext/384928298/mcdonalds-french-fries.jpg
So what does that say about Hue Jackson?
It says that even honest dudes are susceptible to “coach speak,” particularly when they want to be complimentary to a great player. Everyone throws around the word “leader” prodigally; I can excuse him for doing it.
Thomas has pretty much backed every head coach/front office person. The lone exception I can think of is Mangini, but even then it was more implied than articulated. And, of course, his criticism of the HBT earlier this season.
DW: Word association… Mike Holmgren?
JT: Leader.
JT: Yes. I certainly think we’ll do a lot better. Bringing in coach [Mike] Holmgren and his staff was huge. We’ve been putting the right people in the right roles and positions. I’m convinced we’re going to have a great draft — I have a lot of confidence in coach Holmgren and what he’ll do in that respect. We’re going to get good talent coming onto the roster in the off-season, and the guys who produced in 2009 will be back. There’s no reason we can’t be a good team next year.
“I think Coach [Pat] Shurmur’s an awesome person, a great coach, a hands-on coach. That’s something I haven’t had because we’ve had defensive coaches here. To have him in every gameplan meeting, running the offensive strategy meetings, that’s fun to be around.”
What does that say about you? (I keed, I keed)….
I’ve just reached my limit on the Joe Thomas deification. (And I honestly believe we should have dealt him earlier this season.) Can’t we just say he’s a Hall of Fame talent on-the-field at left tackle and leave it at that? Isn’t being one of the greatest of all-time enough?
I’m totally with you, 100%. He’s a first-ballot HOFer LT on the worst team in the NFL over the span of his career. Based on available empirical evidence, he did absolutely nothing to make that team better; but as a fan, I still like him. But as a fan, I want the team to do what’s best for future success.
And it says that I am a hypocrite. And far too merciful. Or a fool.
Mr. Thomas WILL get to experience the playoffs WITH the Browns before his gig is up.
I don’t think you meant it like it sounds, but he did make the team better in the sense that he was really, really at good playing his position. But no, he didn’t transcend to some higher plane. He wasn’t out there actively recruiting free agents, pressuring the front office to re-sign talent on the team, criticizing management when it deserved it, etc.
Right. I just meant that the team as a whole was not better just because he played LT better than anyone in the league. In addition to the things you mentioned, you can’t empirically attribute any wins to him (there weren’t many to begin with), and you can’t say that the team was better on the field or in the locker room because he was there. You can’t even say that the offensive line performed well or better because of his presence.
Very astute perspective. So basically: in the Joe Thomas version of It’s a Wonderful Life, the Browns just suck a little more. And that’s the worse case scenario. Maybe instead, we end up drafting Andrew Luck and Mr. Potter doesn’t buy the team.
Something like that. It would certainly make for a boring movie. Two fewer wins over 10 seasons? Maybe one or two more QBs on the long list? Or, as you said, maybe there would have been a net positive.
Maybe it’s the Los Angeles sun but I actually truly believe this, too.
hi MGA … welcome to the board … you gotta have hope.
Proof Joe Thomas both reads WFNY & the comments
https://twitter.com/joethomas73/status/806988484351139840
Brady Quinn’s Petals!
MGA. good abbreviation.
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