Joe Thomas Comments on Browns Losing Young Talent

Offensive tackle Joe Thomas has played for the Cleveland Browns since 2007, emerging as a surefire future Hall of Famer while watching his team sink to the bottom of the standings. For most of that time, Thomas has kept a cool public disposition.

Apparently, that's no more.

On Wednesday, Thomas expressed his frustration over the Browns allowing young, talented players to leave the franchise in free agency, per Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com:

"

That's one of the frustrations that I've had over the years and that's the problem when you constantly are hitting the reset button is guys that are really good players like that end up falling through the cracks or going to other teams. Because any time a new staff comes in, basically they wipe out the middle class. They keep a couple of your superstars and then they want everyone else being a rookie so that they can try to develop them.

And when you keep doing that over and over again, you really lose all your middle class on your team and so guys like Buster Skrine, Jabaal Sheard, D'Qwell Jackson, Jordan Cameron, Travis Benjamin, those are the guys that they disappeared even though those were the guys that you drafted them, spent the time developing them and right when they're hitting stride in the peaks of their career, they end up going somewhere else and having great success for somebody else.

"

The Browns have had six head coaches since drafting Thomas in 2007. He's never played for the same coach for more than two seasons, and current head coach Hue Jackson has the team off to an 0-4 start.

Cleveland is the NFL's only team without a win this year. The offseason saw perhaps the most eye-opening purge in recent Browns history, with the team cutting a number of former starters and choosing to rebuild around unproven players.

The franchise has not made the playoffs since 2002, and it's had only one winning season since Thomas' arrival.

"It's always my job to do whatever I can to try to help my team win," Thomas said, per Cabot. "I've always kind of been focused on doing my job to the best of my ability, because that's the best thing that I can do to help my team win. That's kind of what you have to focus on when you lose great players like that."

Thomas will be reunited with former teammate Jabaal Sheard when the Browns play the New England Patriots on Sunday. The 27-year-old defensive end, who has recorded 11 sacks in 17 games since joining the Patriots last season, has revitalized his career in New England after losing favor in Cleveland.

The Patriots are also working on finding a role for Barkevious Mingo, a former Cleveland first-round pick who was traded to New England in the offseason. The 26-year-old has mostly played on special teams for the Patriots, but with head coach Bill Belichick's history of plucking former busts from the rubble, it wouldn't be a surprise to see him make an impact at some point.

Belichick himself was a former Browns castoff. He spent five seasons as Cleveland's head coach from 1991 to 1995 before being fired.

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