Michael Thomas - Fantasy Points Outlook

Saints WR Michael Thomas is expected to remain with the team on a one-year deal, $10 million deal worth up to $16 million in incentives. Now Thomas will have an opportunity to get his career back on track with recently acquired QB Derek Carr. The oft-injured star wideout has only appeared in 10 games since 2019, a season in which he led the league in receptions (149) and receiving yards (1,725). It's justifiably fair for fantasy managers not to get overly excited about this news, but there's no doubting what Thomas is capable of at full strength. Maybe 2023 will finally be the year that the patience pays off.

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QB Derek Carr and the Saints are working out a contract that could be done as soon as Monday afternoon, according to multiple reports. It's not a surprising turn for Carr, who had "lengthy" visit to New Orleans a month ago. His arrival will be good news for Saints second-year WR Chris Olave, who finished his rookie season 10th in yards per route run among all WRs with 30+ targets. WR Rashid Shaheed was among the nine players ahead of him (on far fewer targets), so that pair presents some big-play upside for Carr's stat line. That said, we can't upgrade the QB for leaving Davante Adams and Darren Waller. So the best hopes for Carr's ADP and fantasy football outlook are: 1) The Saints add more talent on offense; and 2) fantasy drafters don't boost him much from his current QB20 position. We'll see what else a cap-strapped New Orleans roster can add. And we'll see who teams such as the Jets and Panthers turn to at QB (after also courting Carr). WR Michael Thomas remains under contract with New Orleans as well. But he looks like a cut candidate that could help with the cap issues. Don't assume too strongly for now that he opens the year with the Saints.

Update: NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports that Carr agreed to a four-year, $150 million deal, with $100 million in "total guarantees."

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The Saints and WR Michael Thomas agreed to a restructured contract, ESPN's Field Yates reports. Thomas' 2023 base salary was reduced from $15.5 million to $1.165 million, with a $31.755 million roster bonus for the 2024 league year added that becomes fully guaranteed on the 3rd day of the 2023 league year. In short, this means we'll get a decision on Thomas' future with the Saints by mid-March. Releasing Thomas would still result in a dead-cap charge of nearly $26 million. Thomas turns 30 in March and has played in just 10 games over the past 3 seasons. He had surgery in November to repair a dislocated 2nd toe.

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Saints WR Michael Thomas will undergo surgery to repair a dislocated 2nd toe, HC Dennis Allen said Thursday. Thomas originally suffered the injury in Week 3. "I don't think there was any complication," Allen said. "I think we followed what the doctors recommended in terms of trying to rehab it and give him an opportunity to play through it. We went in and had another MRI the other day, and it hasn't healed the way that everybody was kind of hoping it would. And so surgery is the next option." Allen didn't give a timetable for Thomas' return but confirmed that he's going on IR and added that he "doesn't anticipate" Thomas playing again this season. He can be dropped from redraft rosters.

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