by PigskinMT
Posted 2 years ago
Michael Thomas was the greatest receiver in the NFL during the 2019 season, and it wasn’t even close. Catching a league-high 149 passes, to go along with his 1,725 receiving yards, the partnership between Thomas and Drew Brees was the scariest in the league for opposing defenses. But what a difference a few years make, Drew Brees has retired, leaving the Saints QB position facing nothing but questions. Thomas is on the outs in New Orleans. He’s reportedly refused to answer calls from coaches, and the receiver is frustrated over differences over how his injured ankle should have been treated. Now he’s taking to Twitter and claiming the Saints are trying to ruin his reputation, while insinuating he knows the ugly things the team has done, but is choosing not to air their dirty laundry.
After his historic 2019 season, Thomas had an injury plagued 2020 season. While he did manage to return in time for the playoffs and mount a huge effort to lead the Saints past the Bears in the playoffs, he then failed to make an impact at all against the Buccaneers, not being able to register a single catch in the team’s 30-20 loss. After that loss, it would seem that the Saints and Thomas had differing opinions as to how best to deal with this injured ankle that had plagued him all year.
The Saints believed Thomas needed ankle surgery to be ready for the season. Thomas claims he got a second opinion from a doctor who believed he could be game-ready without surgical intervention. Well within his rights to listen to that second opinion, Thomas tried to rehab his ankle himself — but ultimately those efforts failed. Thomas went under the knife in June, indefinitely delaying his start to the season. It would seem this is where things fell apart between the two sides. Head Coach Sean Payton did not mince words with talking about the teams disappointment with Thomas saying:
It’s disappointing. We would have liked [the surgery] to have happened earlier rather than later. And quite honestly, it should have.
Payton’s comments seem to have set off Thomas, leading to his frustrated tweet and concern about his long-term future with the Saints. With Thomas hitting back claiming, through a cryptic tweet, that the Saints are leaving out information in an attempt to hurt his reputation. Objectively it sounds like information is being omitted, Thomas and the Saints seeming were in communication early in the process about his ankle and simply had two different medical opinions regarding what should be done. However at some point that seems to have devolved from a simple disagreement that happens all the time, to a situation where Thomas is reportedly not taking his coaches calls. What happened we may never know, but losing Michael Thomas would be a huge blown to a Saints offense what already has so many questions.
Topic: Sports
Tags: New Orleans Saints NFL Offseason Michael Thomas Sean Payton