Cleveland Browns offensive lineman, and franchise pillar, Joe Thomas is out for the season with injury. Couple in his age with his body starting to fail him, people are already discussing the idea about retirement on behalf of the future Hall of Famer.

According to Joe Thomas, he's not going to let others do that for him. Instead, his health will do the dictating. And if he's healthy, he will be playing.

“I’ve obviously had a lot of knee issues over the years and stuff that’s not fixable at this point with modern medicine,” Thomas said, via the Akron Beacon Journal. ” … Obviously, the whole body will come into play when you make that decision.”

Also playing into the decision? What kind of team the Browns will be moving forward.

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“If I want to come back, if I can come back, is it going to be for trying to pursue a championship or are we trying to pursue a playoff berth or are we trying to pursue a first pick overall?” Thomas said. “Those are all things that could play into that decision.”

It should go without saying that Cleveland appears years away from being anywhere near a playoff team. However, as it is often rumored, Thomas would be someone plenty of teams would be interested in trading for. It would be up to the Browns, though, to decide whether or not they would be getting enough in return to justify trading the franchise's lone great player of the last decade.

Nevertheless, here is to hoping Joe Thomas recovers fully.