Michael Thomas claps back after reports claimed the All-Pro WR ghosted the Saints during the offseason

Michael Thomas and social media form one of the greatest love stories of the 21st century, and they are on the news once again.

Following reports that Thomas ignored calls from the New Orleans Saints and trainers after the 2020 season, the receiver made a cryptic tweet regarding the situation, stating that he tried to save reputations by staying quiet.

pic.twitter.com/frSOCaKHSs

— Michael Thomas (@Cantguardmike) August 9, 2021

What is Michael Thomas' recent issue with the Saints?

Thomas and the Saints are going through a tough time in their relationship. The receiver signed a huge contract extension with the team before the 2019 season that only started to count last year, and since New Orleans gave him the bag, everything that could've gone wrong went wrong.

Saints' Michael Thomas ignored calls from coaches for three months during his offseason rehab, per @JeffDuncan_Thomas wanted a second opinion from another doctor to decide how to best deal with his rehab and surgery pic.twitter.com/8PcZhRSrod

— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) August 7, 2021

He suffered an ankle injury in week 1 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that kept nagging him throughout the season. With the Saints' defeat in the Divisional Round, Thomas finished the season with career lows in receptions (40) and yards (438), also not scoring a single receiving touchdown in 2020. It was the first time in his career that Thomas didn't surpass the 1,000 receiving yards mark.

New Orleans Saints v Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Injuries, of course, are from the nature of the sport. The problem between Thomas and the Saints is that, while the organization wanted him to repair his ankle in February to be fully healthy when the season started, he elected to rehab his injury at the start of the year. The treatment didn't work, and he ultimately elected to have surgery in June. He was placed on the PUP list on July 26 and is set to miss the start of the regular season.

Sean Payton was clearly upset with his receiver's decision, but he wouldn't go into further detail - not that they were necessary, of course.

"It appears we're going to have to spend some time without him. It's disappointing. We would have liked that to have happened earlier. And quite honestly, it should have. I'm going to leave it at that."

Could Michael Thomas be on his way out of the Saints?

Earlier during the offseason, it was clear the Saints would have to do a lot of work to get under the salary cap for the 2021 season. They managed to do so, but lost a lot of talent in the process, releasing players, seeing others hitting the market and postponing some of their debts to 2022.

The Saints would have to eat $32.6 million in dead money — $8.9 million this year and $22.7 million next year — to trade Michael Thomas.

— Bill Barnwell (@billbarnwell) August 9, 2021

This issue will bite the Saints again in March, as they are $26M over the cap for the 2022 season and will have to clear space once again. If they decide to trade Thomas, there will be a dead cap of $9M for his contract, complicating even more New Orleans' plans for the 2022 season.

While everybody is mad with Michael Thomas for good reason, the best thing that both parties can do for their futures is to sit down and reconcile. The Saints don't want to eat more dead money and Thomas will not have a lot of suitors for his talents following two seasons affected by injuries. Don't expect him to be traded or released anytime soon.