The New Orleans Saints spent the entire 2021 season without Michael Thomas on the football field thanks to nagging ankle injuries. They aren’t planning to do the same in 2022.
New Orleans doesn’t plan on trading Thomas in the aftermath of Sean Payton’s departure, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Thomas had a series of setbacks with his ankle, spending time in New York getting treatment as he plans to be back with New Orleans next year. Per Rapoport, Thomas has been communicating with the team regarding the progress in his rehab.
Thomas’ ankle issues lingered after suffering a high-ankle sprain in Week 1 of his 2020 season. He missed six weeks before returning, also suffering a quad injury and serving a one-game suspension. When Thomas returned, he caught 37 passes for 421 yards before being placed on injured reserve due to the ankle injury. Thomas returned in time for the playoffs, but was held without a catch in 44 snaps in a NFC divisional round loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He didn’t play at all in 2021 after experiencing even more setbacks due to the injury.
Thomas broke the NFL receptions record with 149 receptions in 2019, finishing with 1,725 yards and nine touchdowns. 2020 was a different story as Thomas failed to record a touchdown in the regular season, finishing with 40 catches for 428 yards.
Thomas has a cap number of $24.7 million in 2022 and the Saints would save $2 million in cap space if they were to cut him. A trade or release post-June 1 would save the rebuilding Saints $15.8 million in cap space.
The Saints are a projected $76 million over the salary cap heading into the offseason, but there’s no motivation to trade their best player at this moment.
