Former New Orleans Saints WR Michael Thomas named as logical fit for Dallas Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys could still look to improve at wide receiver and Michael Thomas is a notable free agent on the market.

The Dallas Cowboys have a need at wide receiver. It is true that Dallas boasts one of the very best wideouts in the game in CeeDee Lamb, but in today’s day and age you cannot just have one dominant receiver on offense. You have to have multiple players capable of making an impact, and simply put, Lamb by himself is not enough. Oh, not to mention that Lamb did not show up to voluntary workouts as he is in the middle of contract negotiations with the team. That is a thing, too.

Beyond number 88 the Cowboys have a solid option in Brandin Cooks as a wingman. Cooks caught on a bit over the second half of last season but clearly has his better days in the NFL behind him. Nevertheless he is solid as mentioned.

After that the conversation gets pretty uncomfortable. Jalen Tolbert is the team’s WR3 at the moment and that is a bit of a troublesome reality. 2024 marks year number three for Tolbert and while he did improve from his rookie season last year, that isn’t saying a ton.

The Cowboys did spend one of their draft picks on the wide receiver position in Ryan Flournoy, but the overall point here is that they could use help.

Former Saints WR Michael Thomas named as logical fit for Cowboys

Given that we are a stone’s throw from Memorial Day, there are obviously not a lot of options on the open market at any position. That is simply where we are at in the NFL schedule.

Dallas isn’t in a dire situation, but having more hands on deck could help in a significant way given the serious question marks on the depth chart after Brandin Cooks.

Recently ESPN connected some free agents to places that made sense in their mind and they chose the Dallas Cowboys for former New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas.

Michael Thomas, WR

Best team fit: Dallas Cowboys

When healthy, Thomas can still uncover and work multiple levels of the field. However, the injury concerns are legit, as the 31-year-old wide receiver has played in just 20 games over the past four seasons. And while Thomas could wait until after camps start to find the best landing spot, let’s focus on Dallas as a possibility; he could make an impact there on a one-year deal.

In Mike McCarthy’s offense, Thomas could compete with Jalen Tolbert for the No. 3 role alongside CeeDee Lamb and Brandin Cooks. He could align as a boundary X and show his ability to work the seams out of the slot. He caught 39 passes in 2023 for 448 yards and a score.

Thomas first entered the NFL in 2016 and immediately took the league by storm. New Orleans was experiencing the final seasons of Drew Brees at quarterback and he capitalized on all of the talents within Thomas, so much so that the wide receiver led the league in receptions in both 2018 and 2019. He also led the league in receiving yards in 2019, too.

But things have been extremely different ever since. Thomas played in five games in 2020, missed the entire 2021 season, only played three times in 2021 and managed to return for seven games last year.

Here is what our friends at Canal Street Chronicles wrote about Thomas back in January when they were wondering (obviously correctly) whether or not the Saints would move on from him this offseason:

The biggest problem and the unavoidable issue looming over “Can’t Guard Mike’s” remaining career in New Orleans is the obvious, his health. The wideout is going into his 10th NFL season and still under contract with the Black and Gold, as he is due a $1.2M base salary for the 2024-25 season. In addition to this being his last of a 5-year deal he signed in 2019, the emergence of young budding stars Chris Olave, All-Pro/Pro Bowler Rasheed Shaheed and rookie A.T. Perry make it extremely interesting for Thomas’ position within the wide receiver room. I do believe, with all that being said, he supplies a great amount of leadership and veteran presence that would provide value to the team.

We are past the point where any veteran addition could be seen as an impediment to CeeDee Lamb’s ascension as the alpha of the group, the fact that Dallas traded for Brandin Cooks last season (a former Saints wide receiver himself) is enough proof of that so it does not seem like Thomas could be a threat there in any capacity.

But Thomas has seen a lot in the NFL and could help provide even more for young players like Tolbert and the rest to learn from. More importantly he could provide a higher floor at the WR3 position which is what should be the primary focus given the unknown there.