New Orleans Saints: Michael Thomas reports that he’s out for the season

The New Orleans Saints have been dealt two tough blows in a one-week span. Quarterback Jameis Winston is out for the rest of the year with a torn ACL and damage to his MCL, but that’s not all. Wide receiver Michael Thomas, who hasn’t played this season, is suffering from another ankle injury.

Thomas originally injured his ankle in Week 1 of the 2020 season and only appeared in seven games for New Orleans. During the offseason, he had surgery on his ankle and has been on the physically unable to perform list for the first half of the 2021 season. Although he was eligible to practice, Thomas never did.

Tuesday was the NFL trade deadline and the Saints didn’t make any moves. New Orleans was in talks with Cleveland about possibly acquiring Odell Beckham Jr., but nothing came out of that. Looking back, adding Beckham Jr. to the roster doesn’t seem as bizarre now.

Instead, the Saints are going to continue to navigate throughout the season without the 2019 Offensive Player of the Year. Thomas announced the news himself on Twitter on Wednesday morning.

The New Orleans Saints will be without Michael Thomas for the year

This isn’t the news that New Orleans wanted to hear after currently being in contention for the NFC South title with a 5-2 record. It’s disheartening for Thomas, who rehabbed during the offseason so that he could return to the field. The Saints will be without their top wide receiver for the better part of two years.

Sean Payton is deciphering who’s going to take the reins at quarterback for New Orleans. Now he has to come to terms with the fact that Thomas won’t play at all for the Saints this season. It’s no easy task to compensate for his loss. In Thomas’ historic 2019 season, he had 149 catches for 1,725 yards and scored nine touchdowns.

Deonte Harris and Marquez Callaway are the team’s top two wide receivers. Harris has 15 catches for 271 yards and two touchdowns in six games this year. Callaway has 19 catches for 284 yards and three touchdowns in seven games.

New Orleans will now face its remaining 10 regular season games knowing that Thomas won’t be suiting up at all this season. Instead of making a comeback this year like he hoped, Thomas will have to wait until 2022. The 28-year-old will hopefully be back better than ever.

The Saints are coming off of a big win over Tampa Bay and will be back at the Superdome on Sunday to take on the Atlanta Falcons.