Michael Thomas (WR)

Derek Carr Addresses Raiders Exit, Saints Signing

Released shortly before his contract would provide more than $40MM in additional guarantees, Derek Carr fielded interest from a few teams. This included meetings with the Jets, Panthers and Saints and a visit to New York.

The Jets, however, made no secret of Aaron Rodgers being their top choice. But when they hosted Carr in February, the Jets were not certain Rodgers was interested in playing this season. While Rodgers was moving toward signing off on joining the Jets and delaying retirement, the Saints placed the longtime Raiders starter atop their list. This helped lead to Carr feeling “far more comfortable” in New Orleans. The four-year, $150MM contract added to this comfort level.

It was always ‘us.’ It was always ‘team.’ It was never, ‘You have to do this, or you have to do that,'” Carr said (via ESPN.com’s Katherine Terrell) of the Saints’ pitch. “It was like, the whole team mindset, top to bottom, ‘We’re all in this together. One fails, we all fail.’ A lot of people say that, but [don’t] really mean that.”

When the Raiders released Carr before the Feb. 15 date in which $40.4MM would have become guaranteed, the 10th-year veteran described it as “a relief,” via Terrell. Josh McDaniels called Carr to inform him of the decision, one that had become essentially a lock after Carr wielded his no-trade clause to steer himself to free agency.

The Saints were the only team to host Carr on a visit while he was still a Raider and the only team to agree to trade parameters with the AFC West club, but the longest-tenured QB1 in Raiders history fared better on the open market, receiving $60MM guaranteed at signing — with another $10MM becoming locked in by March 2024 — from the Saints. The $60MM number nearly topped Jimmy Garoppolo and Geno Smith‘s guarantee-at-signing figures put together and approached the amount the Giants guaranteed Daniel Jones ($82MM).

Trade rumors followed Carr dating back to the Raiders’ Oakland days. Although Carr finished third in the 2016 MVP voting, he struggled over the next two years as the Raiders stripped away some weaponry. The Jon Gruden offseasons brought trade buzz and rumblings about the team taking a quarterback. The Raiders did pursue Tom Brady in 2020, but Gruden backed off, leading to a memorable Brady retort years later. Aaron Rodgers was then believed to have included the Raiders on his destination list in 2021, but the Broncos led the way on the trade-rumor front for the then-disgruntled Packers QB.

Carr, however, remained the Silver and Black’s starter through McDaniels’ first season. Though, the three-year, $121.5MM deal included the aforementioned escape hatch that allowed the Raiders to bail if the McDaniels-Carr fit proved poor.

There were many offseasons where I’d have a great year, and they were like ‘Alright, who are we going to draft?‘” Carr said. “‘Who are we going to draft? What are you talking about?’ … It’s driving me nuts. Like, ‘Are you kidding me? Are you watching the same film I’m watching?’ As a competitor, some of that stuff was annoying, and when those questions wouldn’t get answered … it’s just like, as a competitor, I’m going to keep proving myself.”

To be fair, Carr has never been viewed as a top-flight quarterback. But other teams considered him a clear upgrade, leading to some of the past trade rumors. While Carr famously said he would rather retire than play elsewhere, the Raiders’ decision to bench him for Jarrett Stidham in Week 17 changed his mind. Michael Thomas, who was not certain to be back with the Saints this year, also made an aggressive sales pitch for Carr, per Terrell. Shortly after the Saints signed Carr, they kept the injury-prone wide receiver in the fold. Thomas caught five passes for 61 yards in the Saints’ Week 1 win over the Titans.

The Saints have not drafted a first-round quarterback since taking Archie Manning second overall in 1971. The team has since depended on free agency (from Bobby Hebert to Jim Everett to Drew Brees and now to Carr) — and trades (Aaron Brooks, 2000) to staff the position. With Carr tied to New Orleans through at least 2024, with the team having a 2025 escape route involving modest dead money, that streak will likely continue for at least a bit longer.

NFC South Rumors: Alford, Mays, Saints

In January 2022, the Falcons signed cornerback Dee Alford out of the Canadian Football League to a reserve/futures contract. A year and a half later, Alford could be pushing for a starting role, according to ESPN’s Michael Rothstein.

After going undrafted out of Tusculum, Alford signed with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the CFL in 2020 but didn’t get to play after the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the season. When the team returned in 2021, Alford won a starting job and helped lead the Bombers to their second consecutive Grey Cup title.

Following his signing in the offseason, Alford defied the odds by making the 53-man roster. Alford served as a depth piece in the Falcons secondary for much of the year but did come up with a few big plays. In a Week 2 loss to the Rams, Alford gained his team two points with a safety. Two weeks later, he recorded a game-clinching interception over the Browns.

According to Rothstein, Alford has been rising in the offseason for Atlanta. In spring practices, Alford reportedly “took the vast majority of first-team reps at slot (cornerback).” Mike Hughes was the presumed starter at nickelback heading into the offseason, but Alford is making himself hard to ignore as he pushes for a starting role.

Here are a few other rumors coming out of the NFC South:

  • A sixth-round pick for the Panthers last year, Cade Mays may find himself in a bit of a larger role than last year to start the 2023 season, according to Joseph Person of The Athletic. With starting right guard Austin Corbett still recovering from an ACL repair surgery, Mays has reportedly stepped up this offseason. While his rookie year saw him block out of the backfield in short-yardage situations, Mays is in line to begin the season as a starter at right guard for Carolina.
  • The Saints are no strangers to injuries in the past few years. They are feeling it the worst this season in the wide receiving corps, where we got some recent updates from Terrin Waack of nola.com. Michael Thomas‘s woes continued thanks to toe surgery that landed him on injured reserve last year. He’s “slowly but surely” working his way back but is, reportedly, “still not full-go.” Last year’s rookie sensation Chris Olave missed the end of minicamp with an inflamed Achilles tendon but is expected to be okay. The other rookie from last year, Rashid Shaheed, suffered a groin injury in organized team activities that held him out of minicamp. He’s also expected to be fine by the time camp rolls around.

Michael Thomas Did Not Aim To Test Free Agency; Latest On WR’s Saints Deal

One of the league’s restructure bastions, the Saints went to this well with Michael Thomas‘ previous contract on a few occasions. A 2023 reworking looked to point Thomas to free agency, but the former All-Pro re-signed to stay in New Orleans.

Thomas agreed to terms on a one-year, $10MM deal that comes with $6.26MM fully guaranteed. Void years spread out Thomas’ cap hit through 2027 while providing a steep 2024 penalty ($18.2MM in dead money) if the contract is not adjusted before the ’24 league year. While the 30-year-old pass catcher once signed a monster extension that made him the league’s second-highest-paid receiver, a spree of injuries during the 2020s have thrown his career off course.

For his part, Thomas said he did not make a genuine effort to leave New Orleans this offseason, Mike Triplett of NewOrleans.football notes (on Twitter). Describing the contract talk as “fluff,” the league’s single-season reception record holder said he has a great relationship with the organization. Thomas’ 2021 could have irrevocably altered this relationship, as a disagreement regarding his recovery timetable from a 2020 ankle injury preceded him missing all of that season. Thomas then missed 14 games in 2022, running his absence count to 40 during the 2020s.

The Saints included incentives in Thomas’ latest agreement, escalators that could bump the contract to $15MM in total. While Thomas’ 2010s version would be positioned to cash in, the developments since do not indicate a strong likelihood he will add to his new deal. There are $750K in incentives tied to receptions and another $750K tethered to receiving yards. The three-tiered receptions structure begins at 100, per NewOrleans.football’s Nick Underhill (on Twitter), including $250K bonuses for 100, 110 and 120 catches. For receiving yardage, Thomas can collect $250K bonuses at 1,000, 1,150 and 1,300.

Thomas earned his initial Saints extension — a five-year, $96.25MM pact agreed to during the 2019 offseason — on the back of consecutive first-team All-Pro honors. He led the NFL in receptions in 2018 (125) and 2019 (a record-setting 149) but only reached 40 in a seven-game 2020 slate. After four straight 1,100-plus-yard seasons to start his career, the former second-round pick has not topped 450 in a season since. The Saints have also placed a $250K bonus at the seven-touchdown barrier and another $250K bump if Thomas earns original-ballot Pro Bowl Games entry, which will only vest if the Saints make the playoffs. The other $2.5MM in incentives are even less likely to be earned, as they are tied to top-tier achievements (first-team All-Pro, Offensive Player of the Year, Super Bowl MVP) or honors never before attained by a wideout (NFL MVP).

Although the Saints were connected to trading up for a wide receiver — believed to be USC’s Jordan Addison in the first round, they left the draft with only sixth-rounder A.T. Perry in their class. The team has not re-signed Jarvis Landry and will count on speedy second-year UDFA Rashid Shaheed taking another step alongside Chris Olave. New Orleans also has vets Bryan Edwards, Tre’Quan Smith, James Washington, Keke Coutee and Lynn Bowden rostered. But Thomas represents a key part of their receiver plan. While Thomas did not participate in New Orleans’ offseason program for a third straight year — this time due to rehab from toe surgery — he is on track to give it another go in training camp.

Saints’ Michael Thomas Expected To Be Healthy By Training Camp

Michael Thomas is assured to be in New Orleans for at least one more season, but he has work to do to return to full health in time for the 2023 season. Training camp has been named as the target for the oft-injured wideout to reach that point.

During an appearance on the Rich Eisen Show, head coach Dennis Allen confirmed that Thomas will not be a full participant in the Saints’ offseason program (video link). He reiterated, however, the team’s confidence in the 30-year-old’s ability to return to his All-Pro form upon return.

“Right now, he’s still going through some of the rehab process,” Allen said. “He had some hardware removed out of that foot that he had surgery on this past season. He’s doing really well… Our anticipation is that he’ll be limited throughout this offseason. But our anticipation is that when we get to training camp, he’ll be good to go.”

Thomas was limited to three games in 2022 due to the toe injury which, as Allen noted, required surgery. The two-time All-Pro last put together a healthy season in 2019, a year in which he broke the record for receptions in a season (149) and led the league in yards (1,725). New Orleans has remained optimistic in his ability to remain highly productive when healthy, but his future appeared to be headed elsewhere after a January restructure of his contract.

However, the sides agreed to a new one-year deal with a maximum value of $15MM in March. That will give Thomas another opportunity to rebuild his value on an offense now led by quarterback Derek Carr and first-round wideout Chris Olave, who had a successful rookie campaign in 2022. Questions will naturally be raised regarding Thomas’ ability to remain healthy this season, and, if so, to once again be one of the most impactful receivers in the game.

On that point, general manager Mickey Loomis echoed Allen’s confidence that Thomas can post triple-digit catches for what would be a fourth time (Twitter link via ESPN’s Katherine Terrell). He also confirmed that the latter remains on schedule with his recovery, something which will be a key storyline to follow leading up to the season.

Saints Want To Add Another WR, Interested In Bryan Edwards

The Saints elected to retain wide receiver Michael Thomas via a one-year, incentive-laden deal, and New Orleans is also rostering 2022 first-rounder Chris Olave and possible UDFA gem Rashid Shaheed, along with longtime contributor Tre’Quan Smith. According to Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football, the club wants to add another physical pass catcher to support new quarterback Derek Carr, and Bryan Edwards is on the radar (Twitter link).

Edwards, a third-round selection of the Raiders in 2020, spent two years as Carr’s teammate in Las Vegas, including a 2021 season in which he caught 34 passes for 571 yards and three touchdowns. The 6-3, 212-pounder clearly has the size that the Saints are reportedly seeking, and he also offers serious big-play upside, as evidenced by his career 16.2 yards-per-reception rate. Those assets, as well as his familiarity with Carr, certainly explain New Orleans’ interest.

And it is possible that the Saints could land him fairly cheaply. The Raiders’ new Josh McDaniels/Dave Ziegler regime traded Edwards to the Falcons last May, and he was slowed by a shoulder injury in training camp with Atlanta. He ultimately caught just three passes for 15 yards in seven games with the Falcons before being cut, and he finished out the regular season on the Chiefs’ taxi squad. He recently visited with the Giants, who have been actively attempting to shore up their WR deficiencies this offseason.

The top talents of an underwhelming free agent crop of receivers have already come off the board, though players like Kenny Golladay, Marvin Jones, and Rashard Higgins remain available and could have a place in the Saints’ offense. Odell Beckham Jr. is still on the market as well, but there have been no recent reports connecting him to New Orleans.

In related news, we have some details to pass along on Thomas’ new deal. As Underhill tweets, Thomas now carries a cap charge of a little over $14MM for 2023, which is actually a bit of an increase over the ~$13MM figure that he was due to carry under his previous contract. Mike Triplett of NewOrleans.Football adds a bit more context, noting that the deal is officially a two-year pact that automatically voids in 2025 but is for all practical purposes a one-year accord worth between $6.26MM and $15MM, as Thomas would be in line for significant bonuses if he is still on the roster on Day 3 of the 2024 league year (Twitter thread).

As Triplett notes, Thomas will be due a $5MM signing bonus if he passes a physical on or about April 21 of this year, along with a $1.26MM base salary for 2023. He can earn up to $3.74MM in the form of a 2024 guaranteed roster bonus based on games played in 2023, and an additional $5MM in incentives — which Triplett details — are also available.

Saints To Retain WR Michael Thomas

The Saints and Michael Thomas will, in fact, stick together for an eighth season. Viewed as being on the way out of New Orleans after an offseason restructure, Thomas is now on track to stay.

Thomas agreed to a reworked one-year deal to stay with the Saints on Tuesday, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. It will be an incentive-laden deal, and Adam Schefter of ESPN.com adds the Saints are giving the former All-Pro wideout $10MM in base value (Twitter link). The deal can spike to $15MM through the aforementioned incentives.

Following the Saints’ Derek Carr signing, Thomas sent out a few tweets praising the move. The Saints had been in negotiations with Thomas over the weekend, and the progress has led to another agreement. This is a far cry from the five-year, $96.25MM extension Thomas was attached to before a January restructure, but the former All-Pro has run into consistent injury trouble that has sidetracked his career.

New Orleans put faith in Thomas again last year, despite his 2020 injury trouble and full-season 2021 absence, but another round of health setbacks ensued. Thomas played in three games last season, with a lingering toe injury sending him to IR. The Saints have missed their former No. 1 wideout over the past three seasons, and his return would now seemingly put him behind Chris Olave in the team’s wideout pecking order.

Thomas, 30, will enter the coming season four years removed from his historic 2019 campaign. That year, he set the all-time NFL record for receptions in a season (149), and led the league in yards with 1,725. That came immediately after a year in which he posted a 125-1404-9 statline, and confirmed his status as one of the league’s top offensive players at any position when healthy.

The frequency with which he has been sidelined since then, though, has led to speculation about his Saints future, and, to no surprise, this new, relatively modest deal. A bounce-back season would not only help Olave (who topped 1,000 yards as a rookie last year) and the rest of the team perform with more consistency in the passing game, but also allow Thomas to rebuild his own value. With a new quarterback and now a (potentially) high-end wideout in place for 2023, the Saints could be in line for a notable step forward on offense.

Saints Approaching Deadline On Extension For WR Michael Thomas

The Saints are facing down the clock as they attempt to negotiate an extension with veteran wide receiver Michael Thomas, resulting in some productive talks but not quite sealing the deal, according to Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football. The progress is crucial as the team approaches the self-imposed deadline set up in Thomas’s restructured contract.

When New Orleans restructured the former All-Pro’s five-year, $96.25MM deal earlier this year, it set up a timebomb due to detonate on the third day of the new league year, which falls on March 17. When the team moved almost $14.5MM from his 2023 base salary to his 2024 roster bonus, it put immediate pressure on the Saints’ brass to get a new deal done.

Thomas’s new 2024 roster bonus, again, due in six days, currently measures $31.755MM. If the Saints and Thomas are unable to reach an agreement for an extension by March 17, the roster bonus becomes guaranteed and immediately hamstrings the team with a massive amount of dead money implications.

If the team were to release Thomas as a pre-June 1 cut, an almost unthinkable possibility, the team would be shouldered with almost $50MM in dead cap over the next four years. Designating him as a post-June 1 cut would lessen the dead money to just over $26MM and provide the Saints with cap savings of $1.37MM in 2023 and $6.19MM in 2024.

Thomas is long removed from the 2019 season that saw him lead the NFL in receptions (149) and receiving yards (1,725), playing in only ten games since receiving all of his accolades for that year. He did display a spark of that talent in the three games he played this season, but the emergence of rookies Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed in his absence has made Thomas’s presence more icing than cake.

The restructuring initially had many under the impression that New Orleans intended to part ways with the former Offensive Player of the Year, but with Underhill’s most recent report, it appears that the two parties are attempting to prolong their partnership. Regardless of their decision, Thomas’s current contact is untenable, and the deadline to make a decision that the team set up for itself is fast approaching.

Saints, WR Michael Thomas Agree To Restructured Deal

Michael Thomas has reworked his contract, setting up a significant decision for the Saints heading into the 2023 league year. According to ESPN’s Field Yates, the wide receiver and the Saints agreed to a restructured deal that provides the organization with some additional flexibility to move off the contract this upcoming offseason.

Specifically, Thomas reduced his 2023 base salary from $15.5MM to $1.165MM. In exchange, the wideout now has a $31.755MM 2024 roster bonus that’s due on the third day of the 2023 league year (March 17, 2023). For participating, the Saints gave Thomas a $900K signing bonus.

As Yates explains, this reworking assures that the Saints’ decision on the receiver’s future “will be done expediently.” If that $32MM roster bonus becomes guaranteed, the front office would be left with a prohibitive amount of dead cap. If the team decides to cut the receiver (which would likely be designated as a post-June 1 cut), the team would have an extra $14MM in cap flexibility thanks to today’s maneuverings. The organization would still be left with more than $25MM in dead cap, but those extra savings would still be significant for a team that’s projected to be over the cap.

If Thomas is cut, he’d immediately become a free agent. Considering the March 17 deadline, this would allow the wideout to negotiate with teams before standard free agent receivers. The Saints could realistically keep Thomas and still realize today’s savings, but such a route would set the team up for a hefty financial commitment during the 2024 campaign.

In simpler terms, it’s the general consensus that today’s contract restructuring will ultimately lead to the Saints parting ways with the wide receiver this offseason. Thomas hasn’t been productive and/or healthy in three seasons, so it’s unlikely that the Saints would make a financial commitment for a fourth questionable season, much less a fifth season. Plus, thanks to the development of Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed, the team isn’t as reliant on Thomas’s upside, especially with a roster that seems to be focused towards the future.

The receiver has a prolific 2019 campaign that saw him collect 149 receptions for 1,725 receiving yards, leading to Offensive Player of the Years honors. Since then, Thomas has been limited to 10 games across three seasons, contributing only 56 receptions for 609 yards. Entering what would be his age-30 season, Thomas can’t expect a hefty pay day when he inevitably reaches free agency, but there should still be plenty of contenders lining up for his services.

Trade Deadline Notes: Burns, R. Smith, 49ers

The trade deadline passed on Tuesday, but reports of near-deals and trade talks featuring high-profile players continue to trickle in. Though the NFL trade deadline may never produce the anticipation that the MLB deadline seems to generate, NFL front offices are increasingly amenable to making deals, and this year’s deadline day brought with it 10 trades and 12 players changing teams, both league records. As Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets, that type of activity is wildly popular among fans and therefore good for business, and Yates’ ESPN colleague, Adam Schefter, says multiple clubs have reached out to the league office this week to discuss the possibility of moving future deadlines to later dates.

In 2012, the league pushed the deadline back two weeks, from the Tuesday after Week 6 to the Tuesday after Week 8. Another move could see the deadline moved to sometime after Week 10 or Week 12, which would presumably produce even more trades. The idea is that, the later the deadline, the more clarity teams will have with respect to their status as a playoff contender, which will lead to more trade activity. Schefter hears that the issue will be raised at the general manager committee meetings later this month.

Now for more fallout and other notes from this year’s deadline extravaganza:

  • Teams were perhaps most interested in improving their receiving talent at the deadline, as players like Chase ClaypoolCalvin RidleyKadarius Toney, and T.J. Hockenson changed hands on or before deadline day, and big names like Brandin Cooks, Jerry Jeudy, DeAndre Hopkins, and D.J. Moore generated conversations as well. According to Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports, the aggression on that front was inspired at least in part by a weak 2023 class of free agent receivers headlined by the likes of Jakobi Meyers, Deonte Harty, Nelson Agholor, Allen Lazard, Mecole Hardman, and JuJu Smith-Schuster. On a related note, Joel Corry of CBS Sports believes that, if the Saints choose to move on from Michael Thomas this offseason, they may find a number of suitors, despite Thomas’ recent injury woes (Twitter link).
  • It was indeed the Rams who were willing to trade two first-round picks to the Panthers in exchange for DE Brian Burns, as Jones writes in a separate piece. Confirming prior reports, Jones says Los Angeles offered its 2024 and 2025 first-round selections — the team is without a 2023 first-round pick to due to last year’s Matthew Stafford trade — and he adds that the club also included a 2023 second-round choice in its final proposal. Carolina gave serious consideration to the offer, but it ultimately elected to hold onto Burns, which will increase the player’s leverage in offseason extension talks. Per Jones, Burns is likely to land a deal that far exceeds the $110MM pact that the Dolphins recently authorized for their own deadline acquisition, Bradley Chubb.
  • Speaking of the Panthers, we learned earlier today that the club also turned down a first-round pick for Moore. The Panthers’ reticence to trade its young talent (aside from Christian McCaffrey, of course) was on full display at the deadline, and while the decisions to retain Moore and Burns were certainly defensible, every executive with whom Jason La Canfora of the Washington Post spoke was shocked that the club did not pull the trigger on Burns. “I can’t believe they turned [the Rams’ offer] down. Now they almost have to pay him whatever he wants because everyone knows they turned down two [first-round picks] for him,” one GM said. Apparently, cornerback Donte Jackson also drew some trade interest, though another GM said the Panthers were asking too much for him as well.
  • The 49ersacquisition of McCaffrey will necessitate some “bean-counting creativity” from GM John Lynch this offseason, as Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle opines. The team’s impending cap crunch, intensified by McCaffrey’s $12MM cap hit for 2023, will make it more difficult for the club to retain QB Jimmy Garoppolo — though that may not have been in the cards anyway — and RT Mike McGlinchey.
  • Bears head coach Matt Eberflus acknowledged that one of the reasons his team traded linebacker Roquan Smith is because of Smith’s lack of ball production relative to his peers, particularly the peers who have contracts that Smith wants to top, as Kevin Fishbain of The Athletic writes (subscription required). Compared to fellow 2018 draftee and three-time First Team All-Pro Shaquille Leonard, for instance, Smith has five fewer interceptions (seven), 16 fewer forced fumbles (one), and six fewer fumble recoveries (one) over the course of his career.
  • The Lionstrade of Hockenson will naturally create more playing time for second-year pro Brock Wright — who is expected to step into the starting TE role — and fifth-round rookie James Mitchell, as Tim Twentyman of the team’s official website notes. Mitchell, who is still strengthening and rehabbing the torn ACL he suffered as a collegian at Virginia Tech in 2021, has played just 21 offensive snaps this season but offers big-play upside at the tight end position.

Saints To Place Michael Thomas On IR; WR Not Expected To Return In 2022

Michael Thomas has already missed the Saints’ past five games. The Saints ensured Thursday he will miss at least four more, preparing to place their former All-Pro weapon on IR. But Dennis Allen indicated this is a more serious issue — one that a four-game IR stay will not address.

A complication in Thomas’ recovery from a toe injury will lead to the IR placement, per ESPN.com’s Katherine Terrell (on Twitter). That complication appears severe, with Allen adding he does not expect Thomas to play again this season. The 29-year-old wideout will undergo surgery, Terrell tweets.

This continues a tough period for Thomas, who has missed much of the 2020s due to injury. After missing just two games over his first four seasons, Thomas will have missed 40 over the past three. His future with the Saints is certainly in doubt in the wake of this news.

New Orleans received tremendous value from Thomas during the late 2010s. After a few teams misfired on wideout picks in the 2016 first round, the Saints found a gem in Round 2 of that draft. Thomas ascended to the All-Pro level in 2018 and broke Marvin Harrison‘s 17-year-old single-season reception record a year later. As Drew Brees continued to play at a high level in his late 30s and into his early 40s, he depended on Thomas. That partnership earned the Ohio State product a big-ticket extension. Unfortunately, injuries have ruined most of his time on this deal.

The Saints gave Thomas a five-year, $96.25MM deal before the 2019 season, and he rewarded them with that record-setting 149-reception campaign. But injuries began to crop up in 2020. Week 1 of that season began the trouble, with Thomas suffering a high ankle sprain that day. He then encountered a midseason hamstring injury, but the ankle trouble lingered into 2021. Thomas held off on undergoing ankle surgery until summer 2021 — months after the Saints wanted that operation to take place — and ran into a new ankle injury during the ’21 season.

Because the Saints restructured Thomas’ deal more than once, a high dead-money hit would come if/when the team releases him. A $25MM-plus dead-cap hit would follow a 2023 Thomas release, but the Saints could drop that to just more than $11MM by designating Thomas as a post-June 1 cut. That would spread the cap hit over the 2023 and ’24 league years.

Optimism existed coming into this season. Thomas had recovered from the career-sidetracking ankle ordeal and caught three touchdown passes in the first three weeks this season — including two during a comeback win over the Falcons. The four-time 1,000-yard receiver caught 16 passes for 171 yards in New Orleans’ first three games, but the toe problem then intervened. Thomas’ unavailability will make it difficult for the Saints to keep him — barring a major pay cut. His $28.3MM cap number is tops on the Saints’ 2023 payroll.

The Saints, who were eagerly awaiting to deploy their transformed receiving corps this season, have needed to get by without both Thomas and Jarvis Landry for much of this year. Landry is not on IR, but the free agency addition has missed the past four games with an ankle malady. Landry did return to practice this week, and it would obviously be a boon for New Orleans’ offense if the ninth-year veteran returned in Week 9. Landry will be needed more than the Saints anticipated, though first-round pick Chris Olave has produced when available for the team.