Michael Thomas seems to have put an end to rumors of supposed exit from New Orleans
New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas made a statement with a post on his Twitter account on Sunday morning.
The 28-year-old wide receiver, who didn't play the entire 2021 NFL season due to injury, has been the topic of rumors for nearly a year, with many believing that he could be on his way out of New Orleans.:
"A fresh start isn't a new place, it's a mindset," Thomas' post read.
https://t.co/ltocbWo0XZ
Within a few hours, the post drew over 5,000 likes, with fans ecstatic that the wide receiver has declared that he is staying with the Saints.
Saints' restructuring of Michael Thomas' contract helped them retain WR for 2022
The New Orleans Saints have serious salary cap issues as they enter the 2022 NFL season. It's speculated to be one of the reasons that former head coach Sean Payton retired from coaching.
With many decisions to be made, it was being rumored that wide receiver Michael Thomas might be on his way out of New Orleans and that he wasn't happy with the team, especially after the retirement of quarterback Drew Brees last offseason. With the wide receiver under contract, the Saints could either restructure or trade him.
Thomas missed the entire 2021 NFL season with an ankle injury and played in just seven games in 2020. Meaning that Thomas is more of a value to the Saints than he would be if they traded him.
On Sunday, NFL insider Field Yates reported that the New Orleans Saints had restructured Michael Thomas' contract for 2022. The Saints took the $14.565 million that he was due to get paid and converted it into a signing bonus. They also did so with offensive lineman Ryan Ramczyk's contract and have created over $26 million inavailable salary cap space by doing so.
Source: the Saints’ cap moves are underway, as they’ve converted $14.565M of Michael Thomas’ compensation for 2022 and $18,206,608 of OT Ryan Ramczyk’s compensation for 2022 into signing bonuses, creating $26.217M in cap space.
The Saints will need all of the available money necessary to make additional moves this offseason. These will likely include signing or even trading for a quarterback.
Jameis Winston started the 2021 NFL season but tore his ACL in October, leaving the job to be split between Taysom Hill, Trevor Siemian and Ian Book.
With Thomas secured for the 2022 NFL season, seeing as they are unlikely to trade him now that they have restructured his contract, getting a stable option for starting quarterback should be the next step in creating their offense for next season.