With Michael Thomas out and his return timeline a question, here are 3 wide receivers the New Orleans Saints could sign or trade for.
Three catches for 17 yards. That’s what the New Orleans Saints have gotten from Michael Thomas this year. He has not played since suffering an ankle injury in Week 1, with a discipline incident keeping him off the field in Week 5. Now a hamstring injury will sideline him for Week 7 against the Carolina Panthers, and his status beyond that has to be a question mark.
On Friday, the Saints also placed wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders on the COVID-19 list. He’ll at least miss Sunday’s game, and perhaps longer depending on subsequent testing.
Without Thomas and Sanders, the Saints are set to roll with Tre’Quan Smith, Deonte Harris and Marquez Callaway as their top three wide receivers against the Panthers. A heavy dose of Alvin Kamara is lined up, and tight end Jared Cook should see plenty of targets.
Drew Brees may be in his final season, and the Saints are clearly all-in on 2020 anyway. One more game without Thomas, and one game without Sanders, is not going to change the dynamics. But looking down the road, and at a deep playoff run, the question marks on Thomas and Sanders easily bring a call for reinforcements.
Here are five wide receivers the Saints could trade for with Thomas out, and also seemingly on the trade block.
5
A.J. Green
WR Cincinnati Bengals
Green is playing on the franchise tag this year ($17.97 million), and even a prorated portion of that might be prohibitive for teams with interest in trading for him. The Saints, via Over The Cap, have a little over $7.8 million in cap space right now.
That said, Green had his best game of the season in Week 6 (eight catches for 96 yards), with a favorable matchup coming in Week 7 against the Cleveland Browns as of this writing. So the Bengals could be in a position to sell high, and Green may have shaken off the rust after missing all of last season with an ankle injury.
A trade for Green is an all-in move for any team that has interest. No team fits that all-in bill better than the Saints.