Did Joe Thomas ask the Cleveland Browns to trade him?

Sep 27, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns tackle Joe Thomas (73) at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Cleveland Browns left tackle Joe Thomas gave the front office the green light to make a trade at last week’s NFL trading deadline, according to a published report.

NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport, citing the ever-popular unnamed sources, Tweeted this morning that Thomas gave general manager Ray Farmer the green light to make a deal.

It was widely reported that the Browns and the Denver Broncos went down to the wire on a deal that would have brought Cleveland draft picks, possibly Denver’s first and second-round picks in the 2016 NFL Draft. But Rapoport reports than when Thomas learned of the deal, he wanted the Broncos to guarantee his contract for the 2016 and 2017 seasons, a request the Broncos were unwilling to meet.

According to Peter Schaffer, the agent for Thomas, there was never any talk about guaranteed money.

“There’s not one truth to it,” Schaffer told Pro Football Talk this morning. “The deal just didn’t happen. [The teams] couldn’t agree to compensation. . . . The word ‘guarantee’ never came up. It never got to that point.

“I never asked for any re-do of the contract. The Broncos never asked to do anything with the contract. We never asked for guaranteed money. The whole thing is made up. I can assure you 1 million percent that nothing [Rapoport is] saying is true.

“I wish that before people would put stories out they would try to confirm that there is some accuracy to it.”

There is also no truth that Thomas asked to be traded, according to Schaffer, which is in line with the comments made by Thomas after the trading deadline passed.

“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, all the things that I’ve worked for since I’ve got here, the goals I have currently,” Thomas said in published reports. “But in the end, it’s a business. The greatest players in history get cut, get traded. That’s just the way it is.”

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“I feel like it can be really special when we turn this around in Cleveland. Until I’m not here, that’s what I’m going to be working for. I 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.”

Luckily for the Browns nothing came of a deal that would have been the worst trade by the franchise since sending Paul Warfield to the Miami Dolphins in 1970, and would have resulted in the biggest public relations nightmare since cutting Bernie Kosar in 1993.

As to the source of Rapoport’s story, it could be someone from the Broncos looking to save face over not being willing to do whatever it took to acquire the best left tackle in the game. Or it could have been one of several ex-Cleveland employees who love to sow discord to cover up their own shortcomings. But who really knows? It is interesting, however, that Schaffer would be so definitive in denying the story.

The most important part of the story, and the one that resulted in the best outcome for the Browns and their fans, is that Thomas is still a member of the team.

And when was the last time that something surrounding the Browns had a happy ending?