BEREA, Ohio -- Joe Thomas supports the return of Hue Jackson as Cleveland Browns coach.

"I'm excited for it," the All-Pro left tackle said Thursday as the Browns prepared to face the Steelers in the season finale Sunday. "I think Hue really hasn't been given an opportunity yet to prove what kind of coach he is."

Vintage Thomas, whose optimism and upbeat attitude allow him to analyze the Browns past two seasons and be complimentary and understanding of both Jackson (who entered the finale 1-30 in two seasons) and Sashi Brown (now no longer the Browns' executive vice president of football operations).

To Thomas, Brown pursued a proper long-term/four-year strategy by amassing draft picks and bringing in young players. Jackson, though, was asked to do the impossible as a coach, and that was to accept a lesser team for two seasons that simply could not compete on a regular basis.

"I think what we have seen in this building from Hue is a man who is an excellent leader, a great teacher, a great coach," Thomas said. "I think he is really excited for us to begin a new era where we are spending money in free agency and using our draft picks to select high players, not saving any assets or money for the future."

Thomas has rarely been critical of a coach, with the exception of Eric Mangini. But as he ponders whether to return from a torn triceps tendon, he has no need to sugarcoat anything.

Thomas sees that the Browns could have two picks in the top five of the first round, three more picks in the second round and a projected $111 million in salary-cap room.

That means the Browns could spend $55 million in salary-cap money and still have the enormous sum of $55 million in remaining cap space. For that reason, he said the Browns general manager's job was perhaps the most attractive one in the NFL in a long time.

He has a point. General managers who take over losing teams rarely have the kind of potential to turn the team around that John Dorsey has inherited. For Brown, the pill to swallow while someone else makes the picks he acquired has to be bitter.

The problem with the plan, Thomas said, was the difficulty of accepting losing in historic ways -- the Browns are 1-30 the past two seasons heading into the finale in Pittsburgh.

"I think the big oversight was just how painful it is to go through two years of so much losing for the fans, the city, the players, the coaches," Thomas said.

Thomas admitted that identifying and settling on a quarterback is paramount. If the Browns fail to add one, all the other picks will be meaningless. The proof is in the difference Jimmy Garoppolo has already made in San Francisco.

But he said he could see Dorsey adding a veteran (Alex Smith, Kirk Cousins) as well as drafting one high. Thomas believes results could be immediate.

"This team right now is set up for a long run of success starting next year," Thomas said. "That's why I think fans and players and coaches should be really excited. Because what we've done is we've sacrificed two years of pain for long term, multiple years of gain starting next year and the following year.

"Because if you look at our salary-cap space, if you look at the number of young guys who have played and got experience right now on this team and then you look at the number of high draft picks that we have next year and the following year, there's no reason that we can't be really, really good starting next year and the following year."

Regarding Jackson, Thomas said "unequivocally no" when asked if the coach had lost the locker room. Other players did not give as ringing an endorsement, but nobody said Jackson had totally lost the team either.

"Based on the comments I made earlier," Thomas said, "I think he's an excellent coach."

Does all the optimism make it more likely Thomas will return in 2018? 
He said he does not want to be a distraction to the team, so he'll wait until the season ends to sit down with his family to discuss the future.

He said his decision comes down to three factors: his health, whether he's playing at a high level, and whether he still loves the game.