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The Cleveland Browns are already winners of the NFL offseason less than 48 hours into the player movement period. There is at least one star player who's been linked to Cleveland of late, though, who the team apparently has ruled out acquiring. According to NFL Network's Mike Garafolo, star free agent safety Earl Thomas will not be signing with the Browns.
I can now add to this the above will not happen. Earl Thomas will not be signing with the #Browns, source says. We wait to see where he will sign but it won’t be in Cleveland.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) March 13, 2019
Reports surfaced Tuesday night that Cleveland and Thomas were negotiating terms on a three-year contract. CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora reported that the Browns were “feeling good” about their chances of signing the 29-year-old, who would have immediately filled a void at safety left by the traded Jabrill Peppers.
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Instead, Cleveland, at least for now, will have to settle for basking in the glory of a wild legal tampering period during which the team acquired superstar wide receiver Odell Beckham, agreed to a deal with talented defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson, and grabbed tight end Demetrius Harris on the cheap. The Browns had previously completed a trade with the New York Giants that netted them impactful pass-rusher Olivier Vernon, and in February signed former All-Pro running back Kareem Hunt, currently on the commissioner's exempt list.
Thomas, meanwhile, was reportedly seeking a salary comparable to those earned by Landon Collins and Tyrann Mathieu, but may ultimately have to settle for a lesser annual amount. The nine-year veteran possesses aging and injury concerns his star peers don’t, though, including a broken leg in Week 4 of 2018 that cost him the remainder of the regular season.
