He suffered a toe injury in the team’s Week 3 loss at Carolina and hasn’t played since.

It’s been a frustrating couple of years for Thomas and the Saints. The Times-Picayune and Nola.com’s Jeff Duncan provided a timeline of Thomas’ recent past.

The star wide receiver was widely hailed as the best in football during a record-setting 2019 season. He missed all of 2021 while recovering from offseason surgery and appears to be in line to miss 14 games this year.

This would seem to be the end of the line for Thomas in New Orleans unless the two sides can work out a restructured deal. Thomas’ contract isn’t cheap, and for a team that needs as much financial help as possible, retaining the services of a player who is on track to have played in 8.8 percent of games over the past two seasons is not a savvy business move.

It will be a blow to a team that still has hopes of winning its division. At 3-5, the Saints are tied for second with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and are just a game behind first-place Atlanta.

Rookie wide receiver Chris Olave has been a bright spot for the team and would be getting more consideration for Offensive Rookie of the Year if running backs Kenneth Walker III and Dameon Pierce weren’t having the types of seasons that they are.

Olave has 37 receptions for 547 yards and two touchdowns.

Despite that, there’s no way to paint the loss of Thomas in a positive light. 

It’s a great sign that he’s supporting teammates on the sideline on game day. 

It would be even better if he were  able to support them on the field. Per Allen, that doesn’t appear likely, and neither does Thomas staying in New Orleans after this season.