According to a source, the New Orleans Saints and wide receiver Michael Thomas have restructured their contract.
Thomas, who is under contract through the 2024 season, had his base salary reduced from $15.5M to $1.165M while adding a $31.755M roster bonus for the 2024 league year that becomes guaranteed on the third day of the league year. The signing bonus of $902,941 is equivalent to one extra game check for his original base salary of $15.35M when the deal was signed.
The team would be unlikely to move on from Thomas if he remained on the roster because of the massive roster bonus of nearly $32M.
He would enter free agency immediately if the team moved on from him. Thomas could find a new team before other free agents can sign with a new team.
This move allows the Saints to be more flexible during the beginning of the league year.
If the team decided to cut Thomas before his roster bonus became guaranteed, it would likely do so after June 1 The team had to carry Thomas' salary on its salary cap until June 2 in order to get cap relief.
The franchise is projected to be tens of millions of dollars over the cap with his salary reduction and the team has over 14 million in additional cap flexibility. A dead-cap charge of close to $26 million will be incurred if Thomas is released.
If the team decided to keep Thomas, it would still realize the cap savings for 2023 but would see a major spike in its financial commitment to Thomas in 2024 with the roster bonus of nearly $32 million on the books.
Thomas has been limited by injuries over the past three seasons after setting the NFL record for most catches in a single season.
Thomas, who turns 30 on March 3, was a 2016 second-round pick for the Saints and set the franchise record for rookies with 1,137 yards. In the 2020 season opener, Thomas was hurt when a teammate rolled up on his ankle.
Thomas has battled injuries since becoming the first player in the history of the league to win an offensive player of the year award. He had a disagreement with the team over the timing of his surgery. Thomas was placed on the physically unable to perform list to start the season and was unable to return.
Even though I played nine games in 2020, I was still helping the team win games and move the chains. Thomas publicly addressed the incident for the first time at the beginning of the season.
Dennis Allen, the new Saints coach, flew out to see Thomas in the summer of 2022. Thomas had a toe injury that ended his season in the first two games.
Chris Olave, who was drafted by the Saints in the first round of the 2022 draft, has set the stage for him to be a potential replacement for Thomas, who has 962 yards this year.
This report was made using information from an athlete.
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