Mickey Loomis hopes for quick resolution with Michael Thomas

[Gumbo]

A report late last week indicated that the Saints and wide receiver Michael Thomas were “close” to agreeing on a new contract that would keep Thomas in New Orleans for the long term and bring an end to his holdout from training camp.

General Manager Mickey Loomis appeared on SiriusXM NFL Radio on Monday and was asked about where things stand with Thomas at this point in the process. Loomis didn’t confirm whether it was accurate to say that the two sides were close, but he did suggest that it may not be long before the details can all be worked out.

“That’s the business of football and it’s always been the business of football,” Loomis said. “I’d like to be able to say, ‘Hey, we’re close,’ [or] ‘We’re not close.’ These things aren’t always just financial. There’s structure and there’s guarantee and a lot of moving elements. Hopefully we’ll get this resolved fairly quickly but not yet.”

Loomis said last week that he doesn’t “like the fact that [Thomas] has a contract” and isn’t in camp, but called the need to figure out how to pay several productive players “good problems” for a team to have. A solution to this one would be even better for the team’s preparations for the regular season.