Hue Jackson: If Joe Thomas is traded I’m leaving with him
Joe Thomas is one of the few star players the Cleveland Browns have on their roster, which is why his name seems to come up in trade rumors year after year. But the Browns held onto Thomas through the trade deadline, and head coach Hue Jackson insists they will do the same going forward.
On Wednesday, Jackson denied that there were ever any serious trade talks involving Thomas this season. The first-year Browns coach also said Thomas won’t be dangled during the upcoming NFL Draft.
#Browns Hue Jackson said there was never any talk about trading Thomas and if there was, he would've put his foot down. 'He means too much'
— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) December 7, 2016
#Browns Hue Jax on if Joe Thomas' name comes up again in draft day trade talks: "That's not happening (or) I'm going with him''
— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) December 7, 2016
Earlier in the day, a feature from Elizabeth Merrill of ESPN the Magazine was published in which Thomas said he genuinely wants to stay in Cleveland.
“I’m a Clevelander,” Thomas said. “I’ve spent the majority of my adult life here. Every day when I come to work, it’s ‘Let’s turn this team into a consistent winner.’ Because it would be such a special story. It would be like when the Cubs won the World Series. Everybody in the country has probably been cheering for them for so long because they’ve been suffering for so long. And you want to cheer for teams like the Browns.
“It’s so important for me to be here for the turnaround. I don’t want to just get a Super Bowl ring [by] being traded to a dream team. It would feel unsatisfying. Unfulfilling.”
It goes without saying, but that type of loyalty is incredibly rare in professional sports today. If it actually came down to it, we doubt Jackson would resign from his job just because the front office wanted to trade Thomas. Still, you can tell by some of the comments Jackson made in the past that he truly appreciates having the veteran around.
