Report: Sean Payton and Michael Thomas Had Recent Positive Talks, Not Seeking Split

According to a report, Sean Payton and Michael Thomas have met recently and had positive talks. They aren't looking to split up either.

John Hendrix | Aug 12, 2021

A major wildfire seems to be moving in the direction of getting under control. According to a Wednesday night report by Yahoo's Charles Robinson, Sean Payton and Saints star wideout Michael Thomas have had recent positive talks and are not looking to split up.

“They had a good talk about [the issues],” one source said. “I think they both believe it’s not anything that has to go any further than what is already out there. There was some frustration from both viewpoints and that was the point of the meeting.”

This situation really started with the June surgery for Thomas' ankle, to which Payton had publicly voiced his displeasure with before the Saints started training camp. Thomas liked some tweets on social media that appeared to take shots at the Saints and their handling of last year's injury in the season opener. Thomas also posted something cryptic on his Twitter account: "They tried to damage your reputation. You saved theirs by not telling your side of the story,”

Things shifted into overdrive after a recent NFL Network segment showed that Michael Thomas wanted out of New Orleans, but many failed to listen to the actual report from Ian Rapoport. There are major roadblocks to dealing Thomas right now, and a trade couldn't happen simply because he's not healthy. It was a bad look for the TV network to flash a headline saying that Thomas wanted out, but in reality, that was simply not true.

As Bob Rose noted in his column on Wednesday, trading Thomas would create $9.1 million in dead cap space and then tack on $22.7 million in dead money for 2022. This season never felt like a realistic option, and teammates like Jameis Winston have been a real vocal supporter of him in what they're trying to accomplish this season.

Saints WR Michael Thomas — Michael Thomas will be important to the Saints in 2021 :: New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas (13). © SCOTT CLAUSE/USA TODAY Network

Winston was even asked if teammates were upset with him.

He said, "No, we're uplifting him, we are encouraging our teammates here. That's what we do. We got his back. I got his back, 100 percent."

Winston, along with many, was shocked to hear that Thomas was going to miss time in 2021.

Winston said on the last day of July, "I was devastated, he's one of the best receivers in the game, right. But the thing about Mike Thomas, he is working his tail off to get back with us, right. So it is not like we have a guy that's not going to be working. This guy's one of the most dominant receivers over the past five years. This guy has a tremendous work ethic. This guy wants to be here. So I guarantee you, Mike Thomas is working his tail off right now to get back with us. And that's what we're going to be able to cherish. We're going to remember this year from Mike Thomas, right? All great players go through adversity. I had some adversity, I had to sit the bench all of last year, right. So all great players go through adversity. Mike Thomas is going to bounce back stronger than ever and that's what this culture is with the Saints organization. Before I even got here, the past four years this team has been winning, this team has been together. So we're going to embrace our teammates and we are going to love on our teammates and we are going to have their back until they get back."

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Thomas will be an important part of the team's back half of the season, and it definitely will be a trial of adversity for the Saints going into the first part of 2021. They'll be without Thomas, David Onyemata (suspension), and potentially their start kicker in Wil Lutz (injury). We don't know if Marshon Lattimore (offseason arrest) and Deonte Harris (recent DUI) will be available to start the year either.

Starting next offseason, more Thomas trade talk could evolve, but for now, it looks like he and the Saints are making major progress. It's encouraging news, to say the very least. Thomas needs a big bounceback season after a downhill slide from being 2019's Offensive Player of the Year.

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