Continuing his downward trajectory from last season, Michael Thomas is expected to miss a chunk of the Saints’ 2021 campaign due to a late-offseason ankle surgery. The All-Pro wide receiver then sent out a tweet seemingly aimed at the Saints’ reaction to his medical decision, adding smoke to this simmering situation.
But cooler heads may prevail here. Thomas and Sean Payton met recently to discuss comments each made about this situation, according to Yahoo.com’s Charles Robinson. Prior to Thomas’ tweet, Payton said he would have preferred his top wideout undergo surgery earlier this year in order to be ready for the season. The issue of Thomas ignoring Saints calls this offseason surely came up as well.
Both parties do not want this situation to escalate further, Robinson adds. This would be good news for the Saints, who are moving from one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history to a far less certain option under center. A Thomas trade would carry a significant dead-money charge as well.
Although other teams have moved past dead-money bloodbaths to separate from players — as in the cases of the Steelers (Antonio Brown), Rams (Jared Goff) and Eagles (Carson Wentz) — the Saints have depended on Thomas as their top target for years. They moved on from Emmanuel Sanders this offseason and do not have much behind Thomas in the way of reliable weaponry. Separating from the two-time All-Pro would leave Jameis Winston and/or Taysom Hill at an extreme disadvantage upon taking over for Drew Brees.
Thomas’ trade value has plummeted as well. Since he shattered the NFL single-season reception record, with 149 in 2019, the Ohio State product has run into injury issues on multiple fronts and was suspended for a game for fighting with teammate Chauncey Gardner-Johnson. The past year has affected Thomas’ standing around the league, with two GMs expressing to Robinson a belief the receiver’s trade value has fallen to the point no first-round pick could be attached in a deal without protections. Another GM, however, added that a healthy Thomas would bring back a package of a first-round pick and change, which would be similar to the haul Stefon Diggs fetched last year. Since Thomas is not currently healthy, this is a moot point.
Saints should of traded him a year ago. Brees’ amazing accuracy made Michael Thomas appear to be a much better receiver than he otherwise would of been.
I appreciate you doubling down on it but “would have” and “should have”. Aside from that, continue on. Just a personal pet peeve.
I think the context dunbar was going for was “would’ve” and “should’ve.”
Looks like a lose/lose situation to me. Thomas has seen his market value drop but it will go even lower if the sportsbook are correct about the Saints regressing more than any other team in 2021.
I really dont get why teams coddle these guys. You dont want to be here then to hell with you. You signed a contract with me you come in looking for a raise and you will be gone by the end of the day that I promise you.
See ya Thomas you screwed the saints with your bad decision
The issue is he got paid. Happens often in the NFL.
It doesn’t matter if your a cook, a bricklayer, a teacher or a professional athlete. You expect and deserve to be rewarded for doing a good job.
And if that reward contains expectations for future work and you purposefully fall short of those expectations due to your actions, you should expect that reward to be cut short.
Saints should’ve traded Thomas and kept Sanders. Then drafted a Top WR in the draft.
I’d agree with that. Thomas is obviously not going to be reliable in the future, at least not completely. He’s not going to snap his fingers and suddenly be bereft of crazy behavior after displaying a worsening pattern of it for years.
That said, I believe his deal was set before Sanders was signed. By the time he came along, Thomas was already a franchise player and the guaranteed money in it makes the two stuck with each other. I do find it curious how much the Saints neglected their receiver depth behind Thomas in Brees’ final years. A cheap wideout with a high pedigree could have immensely helped an aging quarterback and provided security behind Thomas for a situation like this, and avoided the necessity of signing a more expensive veteran like Sanders.