BakoSaint

It may be more accurate to say that the last time Michael Thomas was able to stay healthy and remain on the field was 4 years ago. When back, he has flashed ability, but not been able to maintain availability. He is like Chad Pennington as a WR. Pennington had the the ability. The likelihood is not that Michael Thomas plays 17 games and looks like Trequan Smith, its that he plays 3 games and looks like Michael Thomas and forces us to adjust our roster, playbook, and game plans from week 4 on when he peaces out again, and we lose a good receiver we cut to hold his spot, we waste $10 million on his salary, and we tick off all the receivers below him who get demoted down a level with his return for 3 games and then promoted back and feel that we didn't really want them in their roles. He could decline someday and become Trequan too, but for now he is a great talent that can't stay healthy with a very physical style of play. He can dead lift all he wants, but I am not confident that means anything about his ability to avoid injury cutting, going vertical, and absorbing hits.

Also it's important to keep Thomas' 3 TDs last year in perspective. In those 2 games we played two teams that finished below .500 and we went 1-1 against them, with the only win coming in a late comeback against a rebuilding Falcons team. He helped us perform in the 4th quarter against the Falcons but didn't do much the first 3 quarters. Then he helped us score a total of 10 points in losing to the later 8-9 Bucs. So yes he had a nice stretch with 3 TDs in two games. But still he just racked some stats up against bad teams in games where we mostly struggled on offense anyway. At no point did he make our offense appear to be a juggernaut, more like he looked like the Brandin Cooks of our Texans-caliber offense. We didn't get enough sample size to know if he is Justin Jefferson or Brandin Cooks at this point in ability to produce. So, I don't think thats worth gambling $10-15 million on 20% chance of availability because he would not be worth $50-75 million a year if fully healthy but still inconsistent and producing bursts of stats against sub-.500 teams.

K Major

Could the Saints be looking for a Michael Thomas insurance policy in the 2023 draft?

SmashMouth

Yes... They need to. Who they get depends on who falls down the draft in a supposedly deeper WR class.

Mr.Riaton

Drafting Darnell Washington could help with that. Charbonnet is reportedly an asset in the passing game as well. Grab those two along with Kamara and Juwan Johnson along with our current wr corps and we can have some serious options outside of Mike if he’s not available.
We also have wr options to consider in FA after cuts.
Just throwing some different options out there…

K Major

So what you're saying is if a guy like Jonathan Mingo falls to us at the bottom of round #1 and he's the best available player on our board, he's our guy ? .

SmashMouth

If Mingo is there , he's not BPA on the board. Based on the mocks I've done so far , there are other position group ahead as t that spot.

BakoSaint

Why do we need an insurance policy for our #3 receiver? Who are the insurance policies for Calvin Ridley, Julio Jones? Do the Eagles need an insurance polocy for Rashaad Penny?

We could still draft a WR at some point but a more dynamic TE, better LG, or more depth on oline would probably benefit our offense more. And in the 7th round, an insurance policy for Lutz?

K Major

The Saints would be crazy NOT to draft a WR in 2023. It's just a matter of which round they select.

After Olave & Shaheed, it gets really dicey + we have suspect depth at the position. You BUILD for the NOW and later.

When was the last time you looked at the Eagles WR/TE roster & depth chart? AJ Brown, Devonta, Quez, and a TE named Dallas Goedert (see Philly in the 2022 Super Bowl).

We don't have that type of talent or depth at those positions.

hitta

Don't get me wrong, I think Michael Thomas was one of the best receivers in the league a few years back, maybe the best. The weird thing about him though is he's just never felt as dangerous in a game to me as some other receivers. Like he feels like one of those consistency guys, not one of those guys that put their will on the opponent or something if that makes sense. Maybe I'm crazy.

It's not something that I'm openly criticizing him for, but I've just never thought of him as some all-time great receiver like some people were expecting him to become.

AsylumGuido

What he was, and what I believe he still will be, is a first down machine. On third and whatever he is automatic. He catches anything thrown his direction. He's not going to bust a bunch of 60 yard plays, but he will have 12 catches for 145 yards producing ten clutch first downs more times than not.