Free Agent WR Michael Thomas suspended to start 2024 NFL season

Former New Orleans Saints All-Pro wide receiver Michael Thomas has been suspended for the first game of the 2024 NFL season for violating the league’s personal conduct policy. He was suspended in connection with an incident with a construction worker last fall.

Thomas is currently a free agent, but is ineligible to play for any team in Week 1 of the NFL season.

Thomas was arrested in November last year and charged with assault and battery after a confrontation with a construction worker.

“The victim stated that Thomas began yelling at him about parking in front of his home and verbally threatening to harm him,” Kenner police Officer Mark McCormick said in a press release via NFL.com at the time. “The victim began recording the incident, which angered Thomas. He picked up a rock and threw it at the windshield of the truck, causing little to no damage. Thomas then walked up to the victim, knocked the phone out of his hands, pushed him and told him he did not want to be recorded.”

Thomas was arrested that Friday. That Sunday, he suffered a knee injury on the first offensive play of the game. He would not play again in 2023.

Thomas later blamed the injury on a “bad ball” in a Twitter conversation.

“Well, if I hadn’t been bothered by a bad ball, I probably would have gotten close to 1000 meters this year, but I could or should have known, haha,” Thomas said on social media.

When the person he responded to suggested a change of environment, Thomas said: “Moreover, they didn’t even try to give me the ball, but you can’t deny that my playing style doesn’t suit the age of the player, you’ll see.”

Thomas, 31, was once considered one of the NFL’s best wide receivers. The three-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro First Teamer set the record for most receptions by a player in a single season with 149 in 2019. That year, the highlight of his career, he took home Offensive Player of the Year honors.

Injuries derailed Thomas’ career after 2019. He played just 20 games from 2020-23 and experienced a steep decline as one of the league’s top receivers.

Thomas has yet to find a new home for the 2024 season. However, he indicated his interest in continuing to play during his social media chat in January.

Now that the NFL has resolved his case, there’s a good chance a team will give him a shot to join the roster in Week 2.

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