Michael Thomas seals restructured deal with New Orleans Saints
The Saints will be hopeful can Michael Thomas can stay healthy and recapture some of his 2019 form after agreeing a restructured deal.
Michael Thomas is staying put. The 30-year-old wide receiver is returning to the New Orleans Saints in 2023, agreeing Tuesday to an incentive-laden one-year contract.
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Thomas was slated to be released by the Saints and become a free agent, but will stay with New Orleans after agreeing to a $10million deal that could eventaully be hiked up to $15million, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The restructured deal helped give the Saints financial flexibility, resulting in last week’s signing of Thomas’ new quarterback, Derek Carr.
While Carr is a significant upgrade at quarterback for Thomas over the likes of Jameis Winston, Andy Dalton and Trevor Siemian following Drew Brees’ retirement, the Saints also need Thomas to be healthy for their offense to be firing on all cylinders.
Toe trouble
Thomas’ 2022 season ended after three weeks because of a toe injury and injuries have limited him to a total of just 10 games since being named the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year in 2019, when he caught 149 passes for 1,725 yards and nine touchdowns.
A second-round draft pick in 2016, Thomas was one of the top playmakers at his position over his first four professional seasons, catching 470 passes for 5,512 yards with 32 TDs over 63 games, but in the three seasons since, he has 56 receptions for 609 yards with three TDs in 10 games.