Michael Thomas used news of his pending Saints departure to attack a New Orleans beat reporter
Michael Thomas was, briefly, the most prolific wide receiver in the NFL. Between 2017 and 2019 he caught a ludicrous 378 passes for 4,375 yards, extending Drew Brees’ career as a useful quarterback even as his arm strength waned. He helped push the New Orleans Saints to 37 regular season wins in that stretch.
The four years since haven’t been remotely as productive. Injuries and a rotating cast of quarterbacks limited Thomas to just 95 catches in that span. That led a player who once signed a five year, $96 million contract to ink a restructured one year, $10 million deal before the 2023 season. While he’s got void years remaining that technically keep him off the open market, it’s apparent he and New Orleans will part ways this offseason.
New Orleans Times-Picayune beat writer Jeff Duncan pointed this out in a column Thursday. And Thomas took that personally.
Jeff Duncan funny how they planning on releasing me if I was on a 1 year deal . Don’t fall for it he the same dude that tried to be my friend in season after saying I wasn’t the same player in training camp. #nexttopic
— Michael Thomas (@Cantguardmike) March 7, 2024
If that was all, it would have been a blip on the radar. But Thomas wasn’t content to stop there. Turns out, he’s got beef with Duncan that goes back years.
Jeff Duncan is a hoe. Trying to stay relevant so let’s speak on it. The Saints leak information to him to try to ruin players value but see I’m not broke so I can speak on it. He is broke so he need clicks. Go look at all his articles that never end up being true.
— Michael Thomas (@Cantguardmike) March 7, 2024
OK, not great, but surely that’s it for personal attac-
Wait, no, there’s more.
look like he take them salt things
— Michael Thomas (@Cantguardmike) March 7, 2024
An attack on his personal appearance! And the self reply to further dunk on the guy who’s just doing his job!
This is pretty much standard operating procedure for Thomas’s Twitter. He’s previously taken on everything from opposing cornerbacks to his own dang quarterback. When Michael Thomas has a grievance, every day is his Festivus. He’s got a lot of problems with you people, and you’re going to hear about it.
Of course, that was easier to tolerate when he was giving you 100-plus catches each season. Now he’s out here insulting reporters after averaging one touchdown per year since 2020. We’ll see if that has any effect on his pending free agency.