There are a lot of exciting new faces in the building for the Cleveland Browns in training camp, most notably with the coaching staff under Todd Monken. Cleveland’s new head coach has been exuding positivity and good energy all offseason and is gradually winning over all the doubters who didn’t think hiring a 60-year-old with no head coaching experience was a great idea.
Monken has brought in an impressive staff as well that fits his vision and the culture he is trying to build. As exciting as this new group already is, there is one big familiar name he reached out to in an attempt to bring on board, but obviously it hasn’t come to fruition yet.
Daryl Ruiter of 92.3 The Fan shared a clip from Monken’s media session on Thursday where Monken casually revealed that he offered legendary left tackle Joe Thomas a spot on his staff.
“I had reached out to Joe. Joe obviously played for George as well, Warhop, and I said, ‘Hey, we’ve got a spot for you if you want to help us coach.’ He said, ‘I love to coach, but I don’t think I want to commit to an everyday contract,'” said Monken.
Todd Monken says he offered to hire @joethomas73 on his #Browns coaching staff after he got the job pic.twitter.com/69fu7jBV2B
— Daryl Ruiter (@RuiterWrongFAN) August 6, 2026
Monken added that he understood the desire to avoid an everyday commitment, but stressed that he’d love to have Thomas around anytime he wants to stop by. Reiterating this publicly may put a tad bit more pressure on Thomas or at least serve as a reminder that he is always welcome in camp, but he’ll surely be busy once the season starts and his schedule fills back up due to his analyst duties.
With five new starting offensive linemen on the team, Thomas’ insight would be incredibly valuable to have around with all those new bodies up front, particularly rookie left tackle Spencer Fano, who is next in line to fill Thomas’ massive shoes as the blind-side protector.
Hopefully, Thomas takes Monken up on his offer, because you can never have too many legends in training camp. Deion Sanders has already shown up and spent some time with the team, so we’ll see if Thomas is the next former player to stop by soon.
NEXT: Todd Monken Explains The Message He's Preaching To Browns
