The Denver Broncos were reportedly very close to acquiring Pro Bowl offensive lineman Joe Thomas at the trade deadline Tuesday, but the deal ultimately fell through. Believe it or not, Thomas couldn’t be happier about the way things turned out.
The Cleveland Browns are 2-7 and would need an actual miracle to make the playoffs. The 7-0 Broncos would probably need to lose every game for the rest of the year to miss the postseason, but that apparently doesn’t matter to Thomas.
“Certainly I would have been really crushed being traded and leaving all these guys that you work so hard with and all these coaches and the people that are in this building and these fans,” he explained Thursday, per Tom Reed of Cleveland.com.
Thomas has spent his entire career with the Browns, who drafted him third overall 2007. Some would consider than an imprisonment, but Thomas wants to finish what he started.
“I feel like it can be really special when we turn this around in Cleveland,” he said. “Until I’m not here, that’s what I’m going to be working for. Certainly understand there comes a day when I’m going to get cut or traded, it happens to everybody. Playing in the NFL, it’s not a forever business.”
Thomas did acknowledge that there are “worse places” to be traded than Denver, which would have allowed him the opportunity to compete for a Super Bowl and block for a future Hall of Famer. Still, you have to admire his loyalty.
