CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Joe Thomas acknowledged at the National Football Foundation Annual Awards Banquet Tuesday night that he's been exploring his options in sports broadcasting and his retirement isn't far off.

Thomas told WKYC's Dave Chudowsky at the banquet that he hasn't been offered any broadcasting jobs yet, but that he's been "putting himself in front of the decision makers'' and said "the end is coming sooner than later.''

Thomas recently auditioned for a variety of roles at Fox and Fox Sports 1, a source confirmed, and he went through "the car wash" at ESPN when he was there in January to appear on several shows. The New York Post first reported the Fox audition, stating that "Thomas was particularly impressive, according to one source.''

Thomas also told ESPN Cleveland's Jason Gibbs Tuesday night that he's "not leaning one way or the other towards retirement'' and repeated what he's said several times since the end of the season: that he'll tell the Browns before the start of free agency so they can find his replacement if necessary.

Teams can begin negotiating with free agents on Monday and consummate deals on Wednesday. That means Thomas will likely make his announcement in the next few days.

Several sources close to the situation have told cleveland.com they're genuinely not sure what he'll decide. One said the longer it goes, the more it seems like he'll retire.

But Thomas told Chudowsky, "it's kind of like picking a college, one day you think it's this school, the next it's another."

If Thomas retires, the Browns will have to find his replacement in free agency or the draft. They don't currently have a player on the roster that can fill his enormous Hall of Fame shoes.

Thomas has been preparing for a post-football career in radio or television for the past couple of years. He's been doing The Joe Thomas Hour on clevelandbrowns.com, and started the popular ThomaHawk podcast this season with former Browns receiver Andrew Hawkins, produced by Uninterrupted.

Fox is looking for "Thursday Night Football'' talent now that it's reached a five-year deal with the NFL.

Thomas also told Gibbs that in regard to the Browns' plans with the No. 1 pick in the draft, "people I've talked to say the consensus is building a little bit that Darnold is sort of the No. 1 guy but no one can really put him in that slot until they see him actually throw because there is some concern about his delivery.''

He also told Gibbs that he believes Bengals backup quarterback AJ McCarron is still the target for a veteran quarterback.

"If I had to guess who's going to end up with the Browns I'd say AJ McCarron is probably the front runner,'' he said, but also mentioned Case Keenum, Sam Bradford or even trading for Nick Foles.

Will he be the one protecting their blindside?

Joe Thomas told me he hasn't been offered any TV jobs yet but he's exploring options and putting himself in front of the decision makers, he said the end is coming sooner than later @wkyc @WKYCSports — Dave Chudowsky (@DaveChudowsky) March 7, 2018