It’s time for the New Orleans Saints to make a big trade for a wide receiver

The news surrounding Michael Thomas is heartbreaking for the New Orleans Saints for multiple reasons.

First and foremost, it takes one of their best players out of the game for several weeks. The Saints rely on Thomas to be a game-changer when he takes the field and it’s hard for him to do that when he’s on the sideline with an injury.

Secondly, the Saints are already thin at wide receiver with the best option behind Thomas being 2018 third-round pick Tre’Quan Smith, who has yet to live up to any kind of hype. Marquez Callaway, a former UDFA out of Tennessee, is going to have a much bigger role this year too, especially with Thomas being on the shelf for the first quarter of the month.

With Thomas unavailable, the Saints can’t play around anymore. There are no more excuses — They must trade for a wide receiver no matter what the cost is.

The New Orleans Saints have to make a big trade for a wide receiver.

When Thomas was still an option to play in the early portion of the season, it was understandable for New Orleans to stand pat because of how good he is and because of what Alvin Kamara can do as a pass-catcher. Now that Thomas isn’t going to be available, the Saints need to get another receiver that can fill in as a WR1 while Thomas is out.

As far as what options are available, Davante Adams is obviously a big name that’s recently emerged as a trade candidate. There have been reports that Adams and the Packers are no longer working on a long-term extension, which opens the gates to a trade. He’s not a likely option for the Saints due to how expensive he’d be, but as mentioned, the time is now for a big trade to occur.

Adams would certainly give the Saints a WR1 candidate while Thomas is out and honestly, he’d retain that role even when Thomas returned. Both guys are 1,000+ yard receivers when they’re healthy and no one would complain about having both of them in the Big Easy.

The Saints have to make sure if they’re going to make a trade that it’s for someone who can step in and be a No. 1 wide receiver. While names like N’Keal Harry and James Washington could fill in as No. 2 or 3 options, they wouldn’t be the best option to trade for now.

New Orleans has to go for broke and trade for star power. Whether that’s Adams, Michael Gallup of the Cowboys (or even Amari Cooper), or Odell Beckham, the Saints have to buck up and get it done. The assets in order to make a trade to this caliber might be difficult but right now, the only thing that should matter to this team is putting their new quarterback in a position to succeed.

Bringing a big name like Adams into the offense would certainly do that. Not only that but once Thomas returned, Jameis Winston or Taysom Hill would have both Adams and Thomas to throw to. That’d make the Saints receivers one of the best in the league and it’d be hard to slow this unit down.

There are no more excuses for the New Orleans Saints. They have to make headlines and trade for a star wide receiver.