NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas has agreed to a new one-year contract with incentives worth $10-15 million for the 2023 season, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity Tuesday because the new agreement was not announced.
Thomas was already signed, but the Saints would almost certainly have released him to free play by the end of this week had the two-time All-Pro not agreed to terminate his previous contract. ESPN first reported on the new contract.
Thomas set an NFL record for single-season catches with 149 in 2019, when he also rushed for 1,725 yards and nine touchdowns.
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Since then, however, he has only played 10 games, missed all of 2021 with an ankle injury and only played three games last season before a toe injury ended his 2022 season.
In early January, the Saints restructured a five-year, $96.3 million deal Thomas signed in 2019 to allow short-term salary cap flexibility. That change included a $32 million roster bonus that was to be guaranteed on Friday.
In fact, this deal gave Thomas the opportunity to pursue a free hand if he was unhappy with the direction of the Saints’ offense. But New Orleans’ recent signing of former Raiders quarterback Derek Carr seemed to sweeten Thomas’s notion of staying put.
Carr said he spoke to Thomas before deciding to sign with New Orleans and expressed his willingness to work with the former All-Pro wide receiver this offseason
“You’re talking to Mike Thomas and you feel like the two of you could go out there and face the world,” Carr said.
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“When he started recruiting and speaking to me, he wasn’t even trying to recruit me, he was just like, ‘When are we going to work, we’re wasting time, time is ticking,’” Carr continued. “Our relationship has grown through the process and I look forward to hopefully making that relationship even stronger.
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