The Saints' salary cap issues are no secret to anyone in the NFL community, and the best way to fix it, to this point, have been the releases of well-established veterans within the organization. Wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders, linebacker Kwon Alexander and cornerback Janoris Jenkins are three who have been cut to this point, and there may be more ahead.
Star wideout Michael Thomas, fortunately (and quite obviously) would not have the same fate as those aforementioned veterans. Still, working on his contract would help the Saints with their overarching goal, and that's exactly what occurred on Friday morning.
According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the Saints have restructured their No. 1 wide receiver's contract, freeing up $8.7 million in cap space and essentially ending all of the trade buzz that had previously loomed regarding Thomas after his down 2020 campaign.
Rapoport had previously said that he "would not rule anything out" regarding Thomas' future with the team, though this restructure seems to indicate that he won't be going anywhere, as it will be hard to unload his salary without a big hit until 2023.
Besides, without Emmanuel Sanders and with Taysom Hill needing all the help he can get, it's a good thing that the Saints will be returning one of the most talented offensive skill players in the business. It seems like Thomas is just as excited to return to full health, too, and he's said he's back to business after taking an "L."
Related
With this restructure, the Saints are inching closer to their mountainous task of getting under the league's salary cap, which is even lower this season than in years past.
LISTEN NOW on the RADIO.COM App
Follow RADIO.COM Sports
Twitter | Facebook I Instagram