NFL suspends free agent receiver Michael Thomas for rules violation

Free agent wide receiver Michael Thomas, who spent the past eight seasons with the New Orleans Saints, continues to search for a new NFL home.

If Thomas does sign with a team at some point over the next week, he will not be eligible to take the field during the NFL’s opening week. The league determined the two-time All-Pro violated the NFL’s personal conduct policy in November.

Thomas was arrested in November 2023 in Kenner, Louisiana, after a confrontation with a construction worker. He was later accepted into a pretrial diversion program.

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New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas during a game against the Houston Texans at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans Aug. 27, 2023. (Stephen Lew/USA Today Sports)

In Kenner, pretrial diversion is essentially a six-month probationary period for first offenders, Kenner spokesperson Valerie Brolin said in March. In addition to avoiding subsequent arrests while in the program, defendants also may be required to take classes, receive treatment and pay fines.

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The construction worker told police Thomas began yelling at him about parking in front of his home Nov. 10 and allegedly “verbally threatened to harm him.”

New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas warms up before a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans Sept. 18, 2022. (Stephen Lew/USA Today Sports)

Thomas then picked up a brick and threw it at the window of a truck but caused “little if any” damage, the worker reportedly told police. Thomas then knocked the victim’s phone from his hand, shoved him and told him he did not want to be recorded, police said.

New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas runs during training camp at Ochsner Sports Performance Center in Metairie, La., July 28, 2022. (Stephen Lew/USA Today Sports)

The Saints selected Thomas in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He finished his rookie campaign with 1,137 receiving yards and nine touchdowns.

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He ended each of his first four seasons with at least 1,000 receiving yards. He was named the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year after recording a league-leading 1,725 receiving yards in 2019. 

But Thomas’ most recent four seasons were marred by injury. Thomas missed the entire 2021 season due to an ankle injury and appeared in just 20 games from 2020-23.

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