Gumbo
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- Mar 19, 2019
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The Saints were comfortable giving Michael Thomas all the money because of the plays he has made, and continues to make.
But those who watch him work say they were never worried that earning his lucrative contract extension might change him, or his approach.
“He’s such a competitive player, he’s such a competitive practice player that,” Saints coach Sean Payton said, via Luke Johnson of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “. . . Look, you can never say the money’s not important. The money’s important, right? But I would say he’s one of those players that won’t be as affected by the money maybe as some others might be.
“He’s really a guy that wants to win, be successful, and he can be — to a fault sometimes. [He’s] his own worst critic.”
The Saints were willing to make him the highest-paid receiver in the game, with a $96.3 million extension this offseason. And his teammates were relieved (but not surprised) to see the same approach now.
“I knew when he got paid, it was going to be the same,” running back Alvin Kamara said. “Man, Mike’s crazy as hell. He wants the ball every time. He’s still diving for balls, doing all that.”
Thomas is leading the league in receptions and receiving yards, maintaining the kind of production that made it easy to write the big check.