Jackson: Browns Not Making Thomas Trade
Joe Thomas trade rumors figure to surface again once the Browns’ season concludes, with the perennial All-Pro set to go into his age-32 season in 2017 on the heels of what could be a winless Cleveland campaign.
But Hue Jackson insisted an offseason Thomas trade is not going to occur, no matter how much sense it would make for a franchise that’s attempting one of the biggest grass-roots rebuilds in modern football history.
“That is not happening, OK? — or I am going with him,” Jackson said, via Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal. “OK? I guarantee you that. I am going with him.”
Jackson also said the organization did not discuss trading Thomas at the deadline as it did last season, when the Broncos nearly acquired the six-time All-Pro for a Shane Ray-fronted package. But the first-year Browns coach charged with orchestrating this re-emergence said he would have objected if management attempted to push a trade through. Talk was the Browns wanted a second-round pick for the now-32-year-old left tackle, and although teams were interested, the interest did not reach the level it did in 2015.
“I would have [put my foot down]. There is no question,” Jackson said. “Joe Thomas means a lot to me personally and a lot to this organization and this team and this city. He has done too much, and we need to keep him here. Joe is an asset to this organization is so many different ways.”
Thomas is signed through 2018, due to make a nonguaranteed $10MM in both ’17 and ’18, so interest should resurface — potentially around draft weekend. Cleveland’s longest-tenured player has repeatedly expressed desire to stay with the team despite the franchise’s present status, and that remains as the Wisconsin product finishes out his 10th season.
“I’m a Clevelander,” Thomas said, via Elizabeth Merrill of ESPN.com. “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. … 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.”
Merrill reports Jackson did talk to Thomas after he voiced what many took as an issue with the Browns letting so much talent depart in free agency, most notably offensive linemen Mitchell Schwartz and Alex Mack, with Thomas telling the first-year coach he did not mean the comments to be controversial.
RG3 To Start This Week For Browns
The Browns announced that quarterback Robert Griffin III will start this week. He’ll lead his 0-12 team against the Bengals as they look to avoid the embarrassment of a winless season. 
Griffin, who was named the team’s starter during training camp, suffered a shoulder injury in the season opener. Thanks to the new IR-DTR rules, the Browns were able to bring Griffin back for the final month of the regular season. Now, as the Browns try and figure out where to go from here, RG3 will have an opportunity to show that he should he the team’s starter heading into 2017. The Browns signed Griffin to a two-year, $15MM deal in the offseason. Both Hue Jackson and top exec Sashi Brown have said that Griffin was not signed as a short-term solution, but nothing will be guaranteed for the QB if he can’t perform over these next four games.
During Griffin’s absence, rookie Cody Kessler and veteran Josh McCown split starting duties. They’ll both serve as backups for Griffin on Sunday.
Browns Sign Trae Elston, Place Derrick Kindred On Reserve/NFI List
- The Browns announced that they have signed safety Trae Elston and placed rookie safety Derrick Kindred (foot) on the reserve/non-football injury list. Kindred has had an up-and-down season for Cleveland, compiling 49 tackles and five passes defended. Elston, an undrafted rookie out of Mississippi, previously spent time with the Buccaneers and Saints.
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NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/7/2016
Today’s practice squad moves:
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: CB Charles Gaines
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: S Justin Currie
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: S Stefan McClure
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Signed: TE E.J. Bibbs
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: OT Rob Crisp
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: CB Brandon Dixon
San Diego Chargers
- Signed: CB Randall Evans
Browns, 49ers In Race For Top Pick
It’s a two-team race for the top pick in the 2017 draft, writes Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com. The 0-12 Browns essentially control their draft destiny, as the team has an 85.1-percent chance at the top pick (they’ve essentially clinched a top-5 pick). According to Seifert, the only thing standing in the Browns way is Robert Griffin III, although it’s unlikely the embattled quarterback will guide the team to any kind of winning streak.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/6/2016
Today’s practice squad moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: P Matt Wile
- Cut: LB Reshard Cliett
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: RB Stephen Houston
Clevleand Browns
- Signed: S Justin Currie
New Orleans Saints
- Cut: LB Lamar Louis
New York Giants
- Signed: DE Jordan Williams
New York Jets
- Signed: WR Darius Jennings
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: DT Shaniel Jenkins
- Cut: WR Kevin Smith
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: WR Bernard Reedy
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: LB J.R. Tavai
Browns Promote OL Anthony Fabiano
- The Browns promoted offensive lineman Anthony Fabiano from the practice squad to the active roster, the club announced today. Cleveland’s interior offensive line has been hit extremely hard by injuries this season, and Fabiano figures to add depth as the season concludes. He’ll back up former first-round pick Jonathan Cooper, who will start at guard on Sunday, tweets Scott Petrak of the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram.
Robert Griffin III Could Start This Week
After being cleared for contact last week, there’s a “real chance” Robert Griffin III starts at quarterback for the Browns when they face the the Bengals this weekend, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Cleveland head coach Hue Jackson, however, says it’s “too soon” to determine if RG3 will be under center on Sunday, tweets Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.
[RELATED: Cleveland Browns Depth Chart]
If Griffin is able to take hold of the Browns’ starting job, there’s a great likelihood that he’ll hold the position for the remainder of the season so that Cleveland management can get a better view of him, as Mike Garafolo of NFL.com reported last week. RG3 signed a two-year deal with the Browns over the offseason, but was injured in the club’s first game of the season and has been on injured reserve ever since.
But given that the Browns reportedly don’t view Griffin as simply a short-term investment (a sentiment with which RG3 concurs, as Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal writes), the final four games of the 2016 campaign could give the club’s brass an insight as to whether Griffin will be worth his 2017 cap charge of $9.25MM. Cleveland’s other options at quarterback include Josh McCown, who has started the Browns’ past two games, and rookie Cody Kessler, whom the club is considering shutting down following a recent concussion.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/5/2016
Today’s practice squad moves:
Chicago Bears
- Signed: WR Bralon Addison
- Cut: QB Josh Woodrum
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: T Zach Sterup
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: S Cedric Thompson
NFL Spending By Team Over Last Four Seasons
The NFLPA has released the official data on team spending over the last four seasons. The Collective Bargaining Agreement stipulates that each team must utilize 89% of the salary cap over two four-year periods, 2013-16 and 2017-20. As previously reported, the Raiders are the only team that has yet to satisfy that requirement for the closing period. The CBA also requires the league, as a whole, to spend 95% of the cap, in cash, for the same period. That requirement has been easily met.
Here is the full rundown of every team’s spending in declining order:
Philadelphia Eagles – $613,928,134
Denver Broncos – $587,712,791
Seattle Seahawks – $584,305,975
Green Bay Packers – $583,138,740
Miami Dolphins – $577,975,260
Kansas City Chiefs – $575,541,332
Buffalo Bills – $573,647,850
Chicago Bears – $568,301,610
Cincinnati Bengals – $567,289,411
Baltimore Ravens – $562,425,698
San Diego Chargers – $562,232,116
Indianapolis Colts – $556,335,689
Atlanta Falcons – $550,614,572
New York Giants – $543,787,033
Arizona Cardinals – $543,327,538
Los Angeles Rams – $541,957,711
New Orleans Saints – $539,836,498
Tampa Bay Buccaneers – $539,736,102
Minnesota Vikings – $539,162,454
New York Jets – $533,151,519
Washington Redskins – $532,545,662
Pittsburgh Steelers – $530,698,171
Detroit Lions – $530,210,549
Tennessee Titans – $524,505,256
Dallas Cowboys – $523,033,036
Houston Texans – $517,212,166
Jacksonville Jaguars – $516,908,734
Cleveland Browns – $516,158,864
San Francisco 49ers – $514,488,198
New England Patriots – $500,083,836
Carolina Panthers – $495,149,346
Oakland Raiders – $491,433,408