Joe Thomas knows better than almost anyone what it means to give everything to the city of Cleveland without ever getting a championship in return. The Hall of Fame left tackle spent 11 seasons starting every game he could for the Browns without a single playoff appearance to show for it, which gives his perspective on the Myles Garrett trade a unique kind of weight.
Appearing on SiriusXM NFL Radio, Thomas addressed the emotional difficulty of losing Garrett while also making a case for why Browns fans need to look past that emotion toward the bigger picture.
“It hurts everybody that Myles is not a Brown anymore, but I’m not willing to accept the fact that we’re only allowed to think that our ceiling as Browns fans is to cheer for a player who’s having a good season or breaking a record. I don’t want to lose sight of the fact that we’re still here to try and win championships. When you look at the Myles trade, to be able to get a great young player like Jared Verse, who’s a tremendous pass rusher, getting 3 draft choices for Myles, it puts us in a much better position for the next 2, 3, 4 years as we’re in this building phase. As you step away from the emotion of losing Myles, you realize this puts the team in a much better situation moving forward, and it was the right decision, even though it hurts,” Thomas said.
.@ProFootballHOF OT @JoeThomas73 recently discussed the Browns decision to trade Myles Garrett and the addition of Jared Verse in Cleveland.
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— SiriusXM NFL Radio (@SiriusXMNFL) June 21, 2026
Garrett gave this organization 9 outstanding seasons and 2 Defensive Player of the Year awards, but individual greatness alone was never enough to get Cleveland over the hump during his tenure.
Thomas is not asking Browns fans to pretend the trade does not hurt. He openly admits it does. But his larger point, that fans deserve more than just individual greatness and should hold out for actual championship level success, reflects exactly the kind of perspective that comes from someone who sacrificed his own statistical legacy for a level of team success that never arrived during his career.
Hearing that perspective from someone who understands the difference between star power and sustained winning, perhaps better than anyone else in franchise history, adds real credibility to the idea that this trade may end up being remembered as the right call.
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