Despite a need for safety help, the Browns should avoid Earl Thomas

The Baltimore Ravens released Earl Thomas, and despite a weak-on-paper crop of safeties, the Cleveland Browns should avoid him.

The Cleveland Browns have a defense that looks more like it’s been put together with tape and bubble gum than an elite unit that can finish in the top five in team defense. Pieced together with young mid-to-late-round draft picks and other team’s scrap parts, the defense features only two players drafted by the Browns in the first round. Made worse, the safeties for the team have one large glaring hole to overcome. Be it injuries, poor play, or a rookie with unknown potential. On paper, the recently released Earl Thomas of the Baltimore Ravens looks like he’d be a perfect addition to the team.

He’s not.

Thomas, who just wen to the Pro Bowl in 2019 as a member of the Ravens, got released after an on-field altercation with a teammate. While this is the moment many people are pointing at as the reason for the release, that’s not entirely all there is to the situation as there are reports that Thomas has been a malcontent in the Ravens’ locker room since the start of training camp. Issues with being on time, a lack of effort given, blown assignments, and a general attitude problem have all been linked to Thomas since the start of the offseason.

While many fans treat pro sports like a bad EA game, there’s going to be a smattering of voices who want the Browns to go get Thomas. That’s a bad idea. Why? If Thomas is as good as many people say, a Pro Bowler who’s going into the Hall of Fame, and the Ravens of all teams cut him, then Thomas must have some serious baggage to deal with.

With explosive personalities littered throughout the Browns roster, the last thing the team needs is another player on the verge of losing his lid for no reason. The Browns already has enough to deal with in Kareem Hunt, Odell Beckham Jr., David Njoku, Rashard Higgins, Myles Garrett, and Baker Mayfield.

Thomas got cut for a reason, and that’s one reason too many for the Browns to gamble with.