Cleveland Browns

Browns say they won't trade Joe Thomas, what's next?

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

The Seattle Seahawks desperately need a new offensive tackle, and the best one that was thought to be available, Joe Thomas, is now off the market.

If you’ve been watching the games this season it is easy to see why the Seahawks’ offense has been struggling. Their offensive line is terrible, and their offensive tackles are by far the worst part of that.

Now it appears that starting left tackle Bradley Sowell will be out for at least a few weeks with a sprained MCL. He was arguably the NFL’s worst LT before the injury, and limiting his mobility more now means he won’t worth even putting in uniform.

The Seahawks also lack viable options on the roster. As bad as Sowell’s been, he was clearly better J’Marcus Webb in every practice and preseason game. The other option is George Fant. He’s a massive project with good physical tools who is also completely clueless in terms of overall technique.

The Seahawks need to improve their offensive line, and playing either of those backups has a chance to make it genuinely worse. The consensus outside the locker room is that Seattle must look outside the organization to find an alternative.

The best option out there would be Cleveland Browns All-Pro Joe Thomas. The winless Browns have said that everyone except Terrell Pryor is available for draft picks. If the Seahawks could land Thomas that will go a long way to fixing Seattle’s offense.

Unfortunately, that seems to have changed this morning.

#Browns coach Hue Jackson is unequivocal today: “We are not going to trade Joe Thomas.” That does not leave any gray area.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 24, 2016

With Thomas off the table, there simply aren’t many options out there for Seattle.

The 49ers appear to be willing to part with Joe Staley. He’d be a major upgrade for the Seahawks, but it is doubtful that San Francisco would be willing to give a division rival the one piece they need to compete for a championship.

Would the Bears trade RT Bobbie Massie, allowing the Seahawks to move Gary Gilliam to LT? Maybe, but that move doesn’t offer the potential upside that the other trade option appear to.

Put all of this together, and you can see why Pete Carroll says the team is unlikely to acquire an OT at this point in the season. It isn’t a matter of the team not wanting to, it is simply a matter of there not being an improvement available on the market.

That means that the Seahawks will likely run George Fant out here this week in New Orleans. At least he’ll get a chance to play a terrible defense when he makes his first career start.