Joe Thomas and J.J. Watt are Wisconsin alums. Could they also be Browns alums? (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)
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Editor’s note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
It’s no news flash that Browns legend Joe Thomas would heartily endorse adding defensive lineman J.J. Watt to the Browns team that has, at long last, cracked open its Super Bowl window.
They are Wisconsin natives and famous University of Wisconsin alums, though never teammates. Thomas left Wisconsin two years before Watt walked-on to Badgerland after transferring from Central Michigan. They met at a training center when Thomas returned home in the offseason and Watt was a high schooler.
“During the [NFL] lockout year [2011], I went back to train in Madison and worked out and he let me borrow his scooter on campus, and we developed a little bit of relationship,” Joe said. “I don’t talk to him all that often. Every once in a while, we may shoot [each other] a text.”
Like many of the current Browns, Thomas has been conspicuously silent on social media and has refrained from recruiting Watt, who has been a free agent for one full week for the first time in his NFL career.
The silence has been a contrast to the wild buzz that spread fast in the days and hours leading up to the Browns’ trade for Odell Beckham Jr. in March of 2018. Back then, Jarvis Landry and Baker Mayfield were among those who virtually wished a trade for Beckham into existence.
I don’t follow all the Browns’ social media accounts, but the only player I’ve seen to even acknowledge the Browns’ interest in Watt was Mack Wilson. On Feb. 16, the linebacker tweeted a caricature of Watt in a Browns uniform with the caption “Come to Cleveland,” and tagged Watt, the Browns and Myles Garrett. Garrett has not responded on Twitter.
Thomas said he didn’t think a tweet recruiting Watt to Cleveland would have much influence on a player of Watt’s stature – three-time defensive player-of-the-year, future Hall of Famer, and late-night network show guest and host of “Saturday Night Live.”
But rest assured, Thomas sees “a good fit” between Watt and the Browns – depending on what Watt is looking for as his storied football career winds down.
Rising the tide
“Not only does he fill a position of need, but he brings a little bit of a ‘when the tide comes in, all boats rise’ type of approach to football,” Thomas said. “A little bit like you see with [Tom] Brady.
“When Brady went to the Bucs, he made everybody better. Everybody starts standing a little straighter, practicing a little bit harder, watching more film. Because they feel a little sense of accountability when you have somebody as great as a player as J.J. He may not be at the pinnacle of his career, but you still don’t want to be the guy called out by J.J. for slacking, or be the one seen that’s holding you back.
“Obviously J.J.’s going to pick a team that he thinks can compete for a championship because that’s one thing he doesn’t have on his resume.”
Watt will be 32 in March and has suffered major injuries in three of his last five years. He had five sacks for the Houston Texans last year despite leading all NFL defensive linemen in snaps on the field. Thomas allowed that Watt’s skills have naturally diminished.
“I think [inside] is where he’s most disruptive,” he said. “But I think he can still be a good edge player, and he gives you versatility, especially in the run game.
“I see him a little bit like [Jadeveon] Clowney, far as production-wise. His ability to beat the block, and then accelerate and get a sack, has diminished a little.
"Anybody who watches the film, you see that. That’s what happens with age. Where he was getting sacks maybe five years ago, now he’s still beating the block, still winning the one-on-one rep. He just doesn’t have that next gear to turn into a sack, but it’s still affecting the quarterback, still affecting the game plan.
“He’s still getting to the quarterback, pressuring, getting his hands in his face. He’s still having a good impact on the game, especially in the run game because he’s very unpredictable, very smart, very savvy. He can beat double teams, can beat a single block. He just doesn’t have that extra gear to turn all those into sacks. I think that was a lot of the criticism of Clowney. But he was an impact player because he did most of his damage with tackles-for-loss.
“I still think J.J. makes your defense a lot better if he’s there.”
Thomas agrees that less time on the field than Watt’s 91 percent snap rate last season could mean more production – if he’d agree to that.
“Some guys want to be out there [a lot] because they get a better feel for the game and get a better feel of the match-ups they can take advantage of. Older guys, they want that freedom to be able to make those choices,” Thomas said.
The dynamic of Watt and Garrett together, Thomas said, would be a game-changer.
“The fun thing is when you have a guy like J.J. who can consistently win one-on-ones from the inside, then you put them on the same side, and you know what the offense is going to do protection-wise. They have to move the protection to those guys. Now, you can play games with the ones that get singled up. Run twists and stunts and blitzes,” he said.
“If you put J.J. and Myles on the same side and they’re not the ones getting the sacks, they’re making your whole defense better. Now you know what you’re getting from the offense. Also, you can switch J.J. to the other side and they have to make the decision on who to double. Any time you make the offense predictable and make them decide pre-snap, that just gives your coordinator so much of an advantage.”
The legacy
Everything depends, of course, on what’s most important to Watt – a payday, a championship, or playing with his younger brothers in Pittsburgh.
“I would think legacy is kind of what’s in his mind,” Thomas said. “Trying to accomplish what he hasn’t accomplished, which is winning a championship.
“I’ve always said, for veteran guy to be able to go to Cleveland and be part of their first championship, with this fan base, that would be the ultimate accomplishment. Yeah, it would be great to go and win another Super Bowl for Tampa or one of these other teams. That’s great. But to do it with somebody like Cleveland, that’s never been there and has a fan base that’s as hungry as Cleveland, that does more for your legacy and how you’re remembered than anything else.
“I would think Cleveland would win a tie because they’ve never been to the top and being a part of that would be so much more special than going and doing it for a franchise that’s been there before.”
The reported contenders for Thomas include Green Bay, Watt’s home-state, boyhood favorite team; Tennessee, whose head coach Mike Vrabel is a favorite of Watt’s; Tampa Bay and Kansas city, which might give him the shortest path to a championship; and the LaLa Land Los Angeles Rams.
“I think LA would probably be his first choice,” Thomas said, “because I know he wants to get into movies when he’s done playing.”
Such ulterior motives might be why most Browns players have refrained from openly recruiting Watt. They may be a little bit skeptical of him.