No player in the history of the NFL had four seasons to start a career like New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas. In four years, he caught 470 passes for 5,512 yards and 32 touchdowns – seeing his reception and yardage numbers grow each year and getting whispers about Canton circulating.
He was as dominant as any position player in the league and prolonged Drew Brees’ Hall of Fame career by becoming a go-to guy of historic proportions. In 2019, he earned a well-deserved second contract – five years, $96 million with $60 million in guarantees.
All was good in New Orleans until Week 1 of the 2020 season. Thomas suffered a significant ankle injury, which limited him to just seven games that season, as the Saints kept him on the active roster for six weeks expecting he would return sooner.
