All-Pro left tackle Joe Thomas might have been fed up with the Browns a few weeks ago, but he insists he still bleeds orange and brown.
When a dismal 3-13 season ended three weeks ago, Thomas wouldn’t rule out requesting a trade. Sick of enduring constant turnover in the coaching ranks and front office, Thomas was discouraged by the firing of coach Mike Pettine and General Manager Ray Farmer and explained he would contemplate asking out of the organization depending on who became their successors.
But Thomas has changed his tune since the Browns hired coach Hue Jackson on Jan. 13. New executive vice president of football operations Sashi Brown also met with Thomas a few days after the season finale to pitch his vision for the franchise. Thomas seems to have liked what he heard.
“Certainly I love the people in Cleveland. It’s my home. I love the city. I love everything about it. So I definitely want to be part of the turnaround,” Thomas told WKYC (Channel 3) Saturday during the NARI Home Improvement Show at the I-X Center in Cleveland.
WKYC’s Dave Chudowsky said Thomas also called the hiring of Jackson “pretty awesome.” Jackson is the Browns’ sixth coach since they drafted Thomas third overall in 2007.
After the Jan. 3 season finale, Thomas was clearly skeptical about more upheaval within the organization.
“I was always wanting to be here and be part of the turnaround, but when there’s changes in the front office, changes in the coaching staff, they may not want me,” Thomas said at the time. “They [may] want to go younger. It may be a situation where I don’t want to be here. I don’t know. There’s too many unknowns to really say one way or the other.”
The Browns came close to trading Thomas, 31, to the Denver Broncos in October but stopped short of making the deal.
Many observers believe the new regime’s strong commitment to analytics could influence it to trade Thomas this year, but Brown said Friday during a radio interview with WKNR (850-AM) the front office isn’t thinking about dealing the nine-time Pro Bowler.
“That’s nothing that we’re thinking about here,” Brown said. “We expect Joe to be back and be a big piece of what we’re doing.”
Thomas told WKYC, “I almost got traded last year during the season. But that’s something that as a player you can’t really worry about too much.”
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com.