CLEVELAND, Ohio — Browns legend Joe Thomas holds the Hall of Fame checklist, and he’s ticking plenty of boxes next to his former teammate’s name.

To join Thomas in Canton one day, Cleveland left guard Joel Bitonio needs to be one of the best players at his position. “Joel certainly checks that off,” Thomas says.

Bitonio must play long enough to make an impact, “which Joel has obviously done,” Thomas says.

But here comes the hard part.

“The challenge is here, with O-linemen, you don’t have stats,” Thomas told cleveland.com last month. “So you can’t really fall back on that other than Pro Bowls and All-Pros. And obviously if you’re on a team that wins a Super Bowl or you’re on successful teams with good running backs, quarterbacks, you get a little bit more notoriety.

“Joel’s had Nick

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