METAIRIE, La. — The New Orleans Saints are officially parting ways with wide receiver Michael Thomas.
According to WWL Louisiana media partner The Times-Picayune | New Orleans Advocate, the Saints designated the release a post-June 1 transaction so they can spread out some of the dead cap burden into next year.
However, the team must still carry Thomas’ full $12.4 million cap hit on their books until June 2.
The Saints also designated quarterback Jameis Winston as a post-June 1 cut before he signed with the Cleveland Browns.
Nola.com also said the Saints cut Thomas, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in November, with a "failed physical" designation.
The release comes within a week of Thomas' extensive social media rant, during which he admonished a local Saints beat writer for reporting that his release was imminent.
Thomas' eight-year run with the Saints peaked in 2019 when the two-time First-team All-Pro caught a league-record 149 passes. Since then, the 2016 second-round pick out of Ohio State has spent the majority of the past four seasons sidelined by injuries, including an ankle injury that forced him to miss most of 2020 and the entirety of 2021, followed by a foot injury that caused him to miss all but the first three games of 2022.
In 2023, Thomas played in 10 of 17 games. He caught 39 passes for 448 yards with one touchdown – his fourth in four years.
After missing one regular-season game in his first four seasons, Thomas played in just 22 of 69, including two playoff games to cap the 2020-21 season – the last of which he caught zero passes on four targets in a 30-20 NFC Divisional Round loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
To date, Thomas has recorded 565 receptions for 6,569 yards with an 11.6-yard average and 36 touchdowns.
The 31-year-old Thomas is now a free agent and is immediately eligible to sign elsewhere.
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