Saints GM Mickey Loomis said Michael Thomas‘ stay on the team’s active/PUP list would not last long. That translated to a rather notable transaction Wednesday.
Thomas was back at practice for the Saints, marking a long-awaited return after the former All-Pro had missed the entire offseason program and the bulk of New Orleans’ 2020s game action. A Thomas return would give the Saints one of the NFL’s most intriguing wideout crews, with Jarvis Landry and Chris Olave on this year’s roster.
When Thomas last played a full season, he finished as the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year after breaking Marvin Harrison‘s single-season reception record. A spate of injuries — headlined by a troublesome ankle ailment — have headlined Thomas’ 2020s career path. Thomas, 29, missed all of last season after undergoing surgery later than the Saints hoped he would. A subsequent setback that occurred during the season caused Thomas to be shut down for all of 2021.
His missing a second straight offseason program this year certainly represented cause for concern, but if the All-Pro playmaker can distance himself from this period, a path toward the Saints deploying one of the NFL’s best skill-position groups is in play.
More to come.