National Football League

Does Michael Thomas' rant about Derek Carr speak for Saints' locker room?

Updated Nov. 7, 2024 4:22 p.m. ET

Former New Orleans Saints All-Pro wide receiver Michael Thomas went on a tirade about Derek Carr on social media Sunday, asserting that the quarterback is the reason for the Saints' disastrous 2-7 season.

On the latest edition of "All Facts No Brakes," host Keyshawn Johnson — Thomas' uncle — offered his perspective on why Thomas went on such a scorching rant.

"[Thomas is] speaking from his own experience of being injured with Carr as his quarterback, but he's also speaking for the people in the locker room that don't want Carr at the quarterback position because they're in the locker room, [so] it's tough for them to criticize their quarterback," Johnson said. "They weren't tweeting about him, so it's okay for Mikey, who has his ex-teammates' back because he doesn't play with them [anymore]."

When asked about Thomas' posts, Carr said that he has "love" for Thomas but "doesn't care" for his comments. He went on to add that Thomas is "like the one dude" in the four-time Pro Bowler's 11-year career who didn't get along with him.

New Orleans began this season 2-0, beating Carolina and Dallas by a combined score of 91-29. The Saints followed up the strong start by losing seven straight, with the most recent being a 23-22 loss on the road to the then-1-7 Panthers.

In the days following that loss, the Saints fired head coach Dennis Allen — subsequently promoting special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi to interim coach — and traded cornerback and four-time Pro Bowler Marshon Lattimore and a fifth-round draft pick to Washington for third-, fourth- and sixth-round picks. New Orleans went a combined 18-25 under Allen from 2022-24.

Carr has totaled 1,225 passing yards, nine passing touchdowns, four interceptions and a 99.2 passer rating this season, while completing 67.9% of his passes. He has missed three starts due to an oblique injury, with rookie Spencer Rattler starting in Carr's place. As a whole, the Saints are averaging 206.1 passing yards (18th in the NFL), 125.3 rushing yards (13th), 331.4 total yards (16th) and 23.0 points (16th) per game. For perspective, they averaged 337.2 total yards (14th) and 23.6 points (ninth) per game last season.

Prior to missing nine regular-season games in 2020 and missing 2021 altogether, Thomas was a Pro Bowler from 2017-19, leading the NFL in receptions in 2018 (125) and 2019 (149), receiving yards in 2019 (1,725) and being the Saints' clear-cut No. 1 receiver with future Hall of Famer Drew Brees under center.

Thomas appeared in just three games in 2022 and 10 games in 2023 due to injury, totaling 39 receptions for 448 yards and one touchdown in the latter year. New Orleans released Thomas as a post-June 1 cut in the offseason.

The 2023 season was Carr's first with the Saints, a season which saw them go 9-8 but miss the playoffs. Carr totaled 3,878 passing yards, 25 passing touchdowns, eight interceptions and a 97.7 passer rating, while completing 68.4% of his passes.

Johnson opined that the Saints would prefer a QB who was previously in their building to be under center, instead of Carr.

"When you fire everybody on the offensive side of the ball, and the quarterback is still the problem, but you try to cover it up and make it seem as though it's the other peoples' fault and the other peoples' problem, this is what Mikey's talking about," Johnson said. "Maybe Jameis Winston healthy was better than Carr, but Jameis Winston got hurt, and he never got healthy again. But now, he's healthy in Cleveland, and it's been a mixed bag through two games. [But] you look at that, and you go 'we would've been better off with that dude,' and that's how you look at it as a player."

Saints fire HC Dennis Allen after 2-7 record

As for the aforementioned coaching change, the Saints fired offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael after 15 seasons on the job (2009-23), replacing him with former San Francisco, Denver and Minnesota offensive assistant Klint Kubiak, the son of former NFL head coach Gary Kubiak.

Winston played for the Saints from 2020-23, serving as their backup quarterback in 2020 before becoming the starter in 2021. He threw for 14 touchdowns and boasted a 102.8 passer rating before tearing his ACL seven weeks into the season and losing the starting job again in 2022 after getting hurt three games into the season.

Winston was the Saints' backup quarterback again in 2023 behind Carr before signing a one-year deal with Cleveland last offseason. He's now Cleveland's starter in the wake of quarterback Deshaun Watson tearing his ACL in Week 7. The Browns are 1-1 with Winston under center.

Next for Carr & Co. is a home tilt against NFC South-rival Atlanta on Sunday (1 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app).

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