Saints WR Michael Thomas is Staying in New Orleans

Michael Thomas helped recruit Derek Carr to the Saints. Now Derek Carr has helped recruit Michael Thomas back to New Orleans. Despite some initial belief that Thomas would be cut before a massive roster bonus kicked in, Thomas is sticking around on a re-worked deal, per Ian Rapoport.

So, Thomas will stay in New Orleans on an incentive-laden one-year deal, per Rapoport. The deal is good for $10 million with a max value of $15 million.

If no deal was reached, it was almost certain that New Orleans would have cut Thomas ahead of Friday’s roster bonus deadline. If the two sides hadn’t restructured this deal, Thomas would have been due $31.7 million on March 17.

Thomas signed a five-year, $96 million contract in 2019 following an incredible season. He caught an NFL-record 149 passes for 1,725 yards. But Thomas has never been able to live up to that deal.

Still, Thomas has only caught 56 passes for 609 yards in the three seasons since, missing a ton of time with injuries.

While it was reported that Thomas was helped the Saints land Derek Carr after he was cut by the Raiders. Now Carr returned the favor and the two will work together in New Orleans this season.