Michael Thomas unloads on New Orleans Saints columnist after reported release

Over the course of about 20 minutes on Thursday afternoon, wide receiver Michael Thomas made it clear how he feels about New Orleans Times-Picayune columnist Jeff Duncan with a series of posts on social media. To say Thomas isn’t a fan would be an understatement.

The origin for Thomas’ animus seems to stem from his vehement disagreement with Duncan about how much good football he has left in the tank. And when Duncan wrote in a column on Thursday that Thomas will likely be released by the Saints with his best years behind him, Thomas took to Twitter/X to unload.

“Jeff Duncan funny how they planning on releasing me if I was on a 1 year deal,” Thomas said with several laughing emojis at 12:32 p.m. EST. “Don’t fall for it he the same dude that tried to be my friend in season after saying I wasn’t the same player in training camp. #nexttopic.”

Six minutes later, Thomas fired off another post aimed at Duncan.

“Jeff Duncan is a hoe,” Thomas said. “Trying to stay relevant so let’s speak on it. The Saints leak information to him to try to ruin players value but see I’m not broke so I can speak on it. He is broke so he need clicks. Go look at all his articles that never end up being true.”

Then, about 10 minutes after that, Thomas sent off a third Duncan-centric post, this time including a picture of Duncan, seemingly a publicity shot taken by his employer.

Look at this [clown emoji] y’all think he know ball yeah right. Y’all really clicking links to what he write,” Thomas said with laughing emojis. He added “#goodluck” on the end of the message.

Look at this 🤡 y’all think he know ball yeah right. Y’all really clicking links to what he write 😂😂😂 #goodluck pic.twitter.com/fDoYiDx1iY

— Michael Thomas (@Cantguardmike) March 7, 2024

Duncan, a long time sportswriter in New Orleans, has covered the Saints for more than a decade and wrote a book about the highly successful run the franchise had under the head coach-quarterback duo of Sean Payton and Drew Brees.

For his part, Duncan has not given oxygen to Thomas’ displeasure online.

Since playing a full 16-game slate in 2019, in which he set the NFL single-season receptions record, Thomas has often been a non-factor in the Saints offense.

Thomas played in 20 games out of 67 possible over the last four seasons, making 15 starts. He missed the entire 2021 season with an ankle injury and hasn’t been able to stay healthy and a consistent factor in the offense since.

Thomas eventually kept up his social media barrage a few hours later, making points about his own successes and how he and Brees had soared.