Joe Thomas is an obvious selection as one of the Browns greatest of all time
The Cleveland Browns have not had a great quarter of a century on the field. Since 2000, the Browns have had just four winning seasons, including two since 2020. In that time, Cleveland has seen the following coaches flow through Berea:
- Butch Davis
- Terry Robiskie (interim)
- Romeo Crennel
- Eric Mangini
- Pat Shurmur
- Rob Chudzinski
- Mike Pettine
- Hue Jackson
- Gregg Williams (interim)
- Freddie Kitchens
- Kevin Stefanski
In 25 seasons, 11 coaches (including interims), with Stefanski about to have two more seasons than the next longest tenured coach (Crennel’s four) when he completes 2025.
In that time, two players really stand out:
- Hall of Fame OT Joe Thomas
- DE Myles Garrett – Likely Hall of Famer
According to ESPN’s NFL Quarter Century team, Thomas would be the league’s starting left tackle:
Résumé since 2000: 167 starts, eight-time All-Pro
In his 11 pro seasons with the mostly woebegone Browns, Thomas failed to reach the Pro Bowl only one time. That was in 2017, his final year in the league. His six first-team All-Pro selections since 2000 are two more than any tackle in this span (regardless of side), making him a slam dunk choice for this team.
Garrett also made the team as one of the starting defensive ends:
Résumé since 2000: 102.5 sacks, 20 forced fumbles, one-time DPOY, six-time All-Pro
Since Garrett entered the league in 2017, no edge player has accumulated more pass rush wins than his 522 — ahead of T.J. Watt’s 467. And Garrett did that while maintaining the third-highest double-team rate at edge (27%) of all qualifying edge rushers. He has made the most of his eight seasons in the league, with a first-team All-Pro nod in half of those seasons, making him plenty worthy of selection.
According to Pro Football Reference, Joel Bitonio is the next-best player for the Browns in the last quarter century. In fact, Thomas, Garrett and Bitonio are all Top 10 players in Cleveland history, with no other player since “The Return” among the Top 40 on PFR’s rankings. Nick Chubb (43), Denzel Ward (51), Orpheus Roye (53) and Joe Haden (54) are the only others ranked in the Browns Top 60.