Tag: Michael Thomas

Two AFC teams suggested as possible Michael Thomas landing spots

All signs point to Michael Thomas leaving the Saints. If he becomes a free agent, ESPN reports that the Ravens are seen as a good fit for him:

Where is Michael Thomas going to play football inn 2024? All signs point to the New Orleans Saints splitting ways with their longtime wideout, whose career has been interrupted by a series of frustrating injuries and subpar quarterback play in the years after Drew Brees’ retirement. The Saints must choose whether to extend Thomas’ contract or release him from it when free agency begins in a few weeks.

And that’s going to give Thomas his first opportunity to choose his team since the Saints drafted him out of Ohio State back in 2016. According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, there are two squads in the AFC who could be good matches for Thomas:

Michael Thomas‘ contract with the Saints is set to void, making him a free agent. A few scouts pointed out Baltimore as a good fit. The Ravens likely won’t re-sign Odell Beckham Jr., and they value established veterans at the receiver position. But a reunion with former New Orleans coach Sean Payton in Denver also makes sense. “When he’s out there and healthy, he affects the game,” an NFC scout said.

Of those two options, Baltimore feels far more likely. Thomas would immediately have seniority in their young receiving corps while working into their offense as a reliable possession receiver. He could mentor younger teammates like Zay Flowers and Rashod Bateman just like he has helped guide Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed in New Orleans. And the opportunity to work with Lamar Jackson, a two-time MVP, has to be appealing.

It would be a big surprise to see Thomas play for Payton again. One of the first missions Dennis Allen undertook as Saints head coach was travel cross-country to meet with Thomas and mend fences after the receiver’s relationship with Payton went up in flames. Much of Thomas’ grievances with the organization — dating back to his first injury, when he was rolled up on while blocking for a teammate in a blowout victory — trace back to Payton.

And if you’re curious, the Saints will host the Broncos for a home game at the Caesars Superdome in 2024, but they aren’t going to play the Ravens again until 2026 at the soonest. “Revenge games” are overblown narratives but it’s something to keep in mind depending on where Thomas ends up.

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Projected market value for Saints’ top pending free agents

Here’s a quick look at projected market value for some of the New Orleans Saints’ top pending free agents, including complicated cases like Michael Thomas and Jameis Winston:

We’re just a few weeks away from the start of free agency, and the New Orleans Saints have a couple of players who could hit the open market — including several starters and some ascending backups hoping for larger roles in 2024.

But could the Saints get priced out of their services? Different outlets have projected market values for some of New Orleans’ pending free agents, so let’s take a look at the numbers from Pro Football Focus, Spotrac, and Over The Cap:

Saints’ projected depth chart before the start of free agency

The New Orleans Saints’ projected depth chart before the start of free agency reveals some obvious areas of need for the 2024 season:

Free agency is fast approaching and the New Orleans Saints have some important decisions to make surrounding their roster.

To understand how they make decisions like who to draft in the first round or whether or not to trade a veteran like Marshon Laittmore, the team will need to take a look at who they have under contract for 2024. They also must choose whether to release players in complicated contract situations like Jameis Winston and Michael Thomas.

Before any moves get made this offseaosn, here is how the depth chart currently sits with players that are officially under contract:

List of the 24 New Orleans Saints free agents in 2024

Be prepared for 2024 free agency with a list of the Saints pending free agents. These 24 players could entertain offers on the open market:

Free agency is around the corner and the New Orleans Saints will be looking to reload their roster in hopes of ending a three year playoff drought. Before they accumulate talent, they must first decide which players they want to retain.

There are three types of free agents:

  • UFA: Unrestricted free agents who can entertain offers from other teams, but who are eligible for the franchise tag
  • RFA: Restricted free agents who the Saints can match offers for from other teams
  • ERFA: Exclusive rights free agents who can only play for the Saints on a minimum salary

So keep that in mind as we run through the list of 24 pending free agents for the Saints:

Penn State’s 2025 football commitment tracker

We have an updated football commitment tracker for Penn State following Monday’s latest commitment.

Penn State got off to a fast start with assembling its Class of 2025 on the recruiting trail. James Franklin and his staff quickly put together a class ranking in the top 10 of the national recruiting rankings even before the Class of 2024 was wrapping up for good. An early focus on defense was noticeable with Penn State’s recruiting plans for the Class of 2025 and some key players from neighboring states were among the early highlights of the recruiting class.

We will be keeping tabs on the Penn State Class of 2025 all the way through the recruiting cycle up until the commitments sign with Penn State. Should there be any players backing off their commitment, we will track their status as well as their recruiting process plays out.

This tracker will be updated as necessary, with the most recent update being made on February 20, 2024.

Saints free agent preview: WR Michael Thomas, stay or go?

Our New Orleans Saints free agent previews continue with Michael Thomas. He can still play, but Derek Carr may not be the best QB fit for him:

All signs point to this being the end of the road for the New Orleans Saints and Michael Thomas. His contract was structured in such a way to make it easier on the team’s salary cap to release him in March, and his comments on social media about the team’s coaching staff and quarterback don’t paint a picture of someone eager to run it back.

If so, it’s a shame. Thomas was on a trajectory that would have sent him to the Pro Football Hall of Fame before a series of unfortunate injuries derailed his career. He did the work to be a good teammate, buying into what Dennis Allen was selling and doing his part to recruit Derek Carr to New Orleans while mentoring younger players on the roster. Now it’s looking like things are coming to an end.

Still, it’s worth looking back on his last season in a Saints uniform and objectively arguing whether or not he should return again in 2024. Let’s keep this series going:

Projected market value for Saints’ top pending free agents

The experts at Over The Cap calculated contract values for the New Orleans Saints’ top pending free agents. Here’s what they may see on the open market:

With free agency coming up, it’s time to take stock on some of the top pending free agents from the New Orleans Saints.

The Saints’ front office did a good job of targeting the big names before the  2023 season as Carl Granderson and Cesar Ruiz are taken care of, along with Cameron Jordan, Zach Wood, and some other players they would have had to re-sign this year. Still, there are more players who could either come back or get signed away that would impact the team.

Here are where there market value could stand for those players as the Saints decide who they want to pursue in contract extension talks. All valuations are from Over The Cap, it is hard to know exactly what these players will get next year but here is a possible idea for the top guys:

Stay or go: Predicting the fates of all 24 Saints free agents in 2024

Stay or go: Predicting the fates of all 24 New Orleans Saints free agents in 2024, from Jameis Winston and Michael Thomas to Zack Baun and Lynn Bowden Jr.

We’re just one month away from the start of free agency, and the New Orleans Saints have some tough decisions to make. Between players whose contracts are running up and those whose deals are designed to be torn up (we’ll get to them in a bit), it’s going to be tough to keep this team together.

At the same time, some changes are obviously needed. And free agency and the start of a new league year give the Saints an opportunity to shake up their roster and try to improve. That doesn’t mean it’s an easy process. New Orleans is in the red by more than $80 million and must make some heavy decisions on how to reach salary cap compliance.

So with that in mind, here are predictions for which Saints players will return for 2024 or seek better opportunities in free agency:

Chris Olave’s goal for 2024 is clear: Win a Super Bowl in New Orleans

Chris Olave is pleased with his personal growth in the NFL so far, but he has a bigger goal for 2024: Win a Super Bowl in New Orleans

There aren’t many players more important to the New Orleans Saints’ success than Chris Olave. The former Ohio State Buckeyes standout is going into his third season with the Saints, and while he’s pleased with the positive growth in his game, he has higher expectations. He wants to bring New Orleans a championship.

And he knows he has a chance to do it in his own backyard. When discussing his goals for 2024, Olave made his ambitions crystal-clear.

“Super Bowl, baby,” Olave told Bleacher Report’s Scott Polacek. “And it’s in New Orleans.”

Next year’s Super Bowl LIX will be played at the Caesars Superdome and Olave knows how meaningful it would be to bring the city a title on their home turf. It’s been done only twice in the 58-year history of the championship game, but both instances were recent: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers did it in Super Bowl LV and the Los Angeles Rams repeated the feat in Super Bowl LVI.

And more impressive games from Olave will help the team go the distance. Olave improved on all of his numbers in his second season with the Saints — he played in more games (16 over 15), drew more targets (138 over 119), aught more passes (87 over 72), gained more yards (1,123 over 1,042) and scored more touchdowns (5 over 4) while picking up more first downs (57 over 48).

His catch rate increased with Derek Carr throwing to him instead of Andy Dalton (63.0% over 60.5%) and he averaged more catches and yards per game, becoming a more well-rounded threat with 12.9 yards per catch over 14.5 in his rookie year. His average depth of target fell from 14.2 yards to 13.3, but he gained a full yard more per reception after the catch.

And he’s pleased with that development, reflecting on his second season: “It went really well. The first goal is always winning, but just as a personal season it went well. I feel like I can maximize my potential a bit more, but I had great teammates and great coaches around me. I’m excited to keep growing and keep moving forward.”

The Saints are going to ask a lot of him in 2024. Olave is going to draw even more targets with Michael Thomas expected to be released into free agency in March. His fellow third-year wideout Rashid Shaheed will return as an exclusive-rights free agent, and second-year draft pick A.T. Perry made some great plays down the stretch in 2023. It’ll take all of them to get New Orleans to the Super Bowl this time next year.

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Two other teams sign a couple of former Saints wide receivers

The Saints only have a handful of receivers signed for 2024, and players they brought into training camp last year are getting snapped up by other teams:

Do the New Orleans Saints have a problem at wide receiver? Maybe, maybe not. Not in the sense that they don’t have good players: Chris Olave and A.T. Perry are returning for 2024, and Rashid Shaheed will come back on an exclusive-rights free agent deal, too.

But Michael Thomas is on the way out; his contract is set up for him to be released as a post-June 1 cut in March. And at some point the Saints need to start signing players to fill out practice reps at training camp. New Orleans brought a dozen receivers into camp last summer and right now they only have two (technically three). Of those twelve receivers, three are still with the Saints (including Thomas), three are on other teams, and six are free agents (including Shaheed, whose only CBA-allowed option is to re-sign with the Saints). A thirteenth receiver, Jontre Kirklin, arrived late in camp and is currently competing with the UFL’s San Antonio Brahmas.

And some of those players who competed in camp last year are getting snapped up by other teams. The New England Patriots signed former seventh-round draft pick Kawaan Baker to a reserve/future deal this week, per ESPN’s Mike Reiss. So did Tre’Quan Smith, who is going to the Detroit Lions, per KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson.

Several practice squad receivers were not retained after the 2023 season. Fan-favorite rookie Shaquan Davis left for the Philadelphia Eagles. Longtime backup Marquez Callaway signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers. There aren’t many familiar names left out there.

Ideally the Saints would add enough quality players to keep them on the practice squad if they’re in consideration at all. But that’s not the point. They could run into trouble relying on a ton of undrafted rookies to fill out the depth chart. Odds are they’ll sign some veterans in free agency in March, though it’s possible a couple of qualifying players could sign reserve/future deals in the near future.

Why the delay? The Saints don’t have a wide receivers coach right now. They know that Klint Kubiak will be their offensive coordinator, but missing a position coach could complicate things. They need a clear vision of what to look for in evaluating new additions. Until Kubiak is officially hired and a receivers coach named, this process may continue to draw out.

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