Free agent wide receiver Michael Thomas, who played for the New Orleans Saints last season, was suspended one game by the National Football League on Friday for violating the personal conduct policy.
The discipline stems from Thomas’ arrest in November 2023 in the New Orleans area. Thomas was charged with simple battery and criminal mischief, per the NFL, after a confrontation with a construction contractor who was working in his neighborhood. Thomas was not disciplined by the NFL at the time, with the league waiting for the legal process to play out, but he would be forced to the sidelines anyway the week after.
In his first game after the November arrest, Thomas injured his knee after just two snaps, was subsequently placed on injured reserve and never played another down for the Saints.
The 31-year-old was released by New Orleans in March and has been a free agent ever since. Should he sign with a team before the start of the season, then he won’t be eligible to return until Week 2. Should he sign with a team after the season begins, then he will serve his suspension in the next team game before being eligible to play.
Thomas was a record-setting receiver in his prime years and still holds numerous league records, and dozens more Saints’ franchise records. He holds the all-time NFL records for most receptions through a player’s first five seasons (510), most receiving yards through a player’s first four seasons (5,512), most consecutive games with four-plus catches (43), fewest games needed to record 500 receptions (69) and most receptions in a single-season (149).
The last of those records came in his banner season of 2019. With Drew Brees as his quarterback, Thomas led the NFL with 1,725 receiving yards which, at the time, was the seventh most yards in league history. He now ranks 11th. His 149 catches that year remains the most all-time as he broke Marvin Harrison’s mark of 143, which had stood for 17 years.
Thomas was named the 2019 NFL Offensive Player of the Year, joining two-time winner Jerry Rice as the only wide receivers to win the award. Wideouts Cooper Kupp and Justin Jefferson have since also won the award.
Since then, it’s simply been a struggle for Thomas to stay on the field. The following year, he injured his ankle in week one and missed six games; came back to play in six games, and re-injured his ankle, sending him to injured reserve and missing three more games.
Then in 2021, he underwent offseason ankle surgery and suffered a setback while rehabbing, which prevented him from playing the entire season. In 2022, he suited up for the first three games of the season and was impactful with three touchdowns during that span. However, the injury bug struck again in that third game when he hurt his foot. After being inactive for a month, the Saints deemed that he was unable to return that season.
Last season, he played in the first nine games before that arrest. Then the knee injury in that 10th game ended his year and his Saints tenure. His eight-year Saints career is basically two different halves. The first four years saw him miss just one game due to injury as he caught 470 passes for 5,512 yards and 32 touchdowns. The last four years saw him miss 47 games while playing in just 20 as he totaled 95 receptions for 1,057 yards and four touchdowns over that four-year stretch.
For his career, which began as a second-round pick in 2016 out of Ohio State, Thomas ranks second in Saints’ franchise history in receptions (565), fourth in receiving yards (6,569) and seventh in receiving touchdowns (36). He’s a three-time Pro Bowler and has made a pair of All-Pro teams.
